


Sunken Grace

by kalkoenvsneoklak



Series: The city of Enochia [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angels and Demons, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Human Castiel, M/M, Protective Dean Winchester, Slow Build, Treasure Hunting, international travels, mentions of real historical figures, treasure hunter Castiel, treasure hunter Dean, treasure hunter John, treasure hunter Sam, uncharted - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-08-22 04:33:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 119,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16590929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalkoenvsneoklak/pseuds/kalkoenvsneoklak
Summary: When John Winchester disappears during a hunt, Dean seeks out his brother to find him again. With the help of Dr. Castiel Novak, a young theologist with major knowledge over dead languages and multiple religions, they set out after a trail with only one thing to guide them; a symbol that's been chasing Dean his entire life.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I've been planning on writing this in the middle of working on Being a Stark. I always told myself I would start writing it once the story was finished, but eventually it never came of it. Until now. there are 8 chapters written so far, minus the prologue. I won't post everything immediately, but I'll rather just give a preview with the prologue. Once I've reached more than half the intended chapters, I'll start posting the story! 
> 
> I hope people will actually like this. I'm doing tons of research on everything I use, but most of the time I make up things on my own whenever I can't find anything real-life that fits with the story. I'm also not an archeologist, and while I've played the Uncharted Games multiple times, I'm not as smart as Nathan Drake. If there are any inconsistencies, don't be afraid to point them out to me. I really want to make something great of this story, and I hope I won't disappoint :-)
> 
> The story is beta'd by my amazing sister- I mean friend Caspinn, with whom I've written the entire 'Sweet Child of Mine'-verse. Of course, English is not our first language so mistakes might still dare to pass us by. In that case, feel free to correct any mistakes you read ^^
> 
> The symbols in this story are also created by the lovely Caspinn!

 

_November 15 th 1982_

 

“Are you sure we’re going the right way, John?”

“Of course, haven’t you noticed the signs?”

Mary huffs out an annoyed breath, rolling her eyes as she pushes her long locks out of her face. She’s dirty, dirt all over her fingers and scrapes against her knees. It’s nothing she isn’t used to, though, given the fact that she spends most of her time climbing stuff and jumping off… stuff.

“I swear, John Winchester, if we went the wrong way and lost another day I’m taking the first flight home to return to our son,” Mary warns her husband with a raised finger. John just grunts as he pushes his shoulder against a wall that looks close to crumbling down. Much like she suspected, the moment he touches it, it breaks. The stones fall onto the ground with a loud noise, but there’s only them who hear it.

“In case you’ve forgotten, our son is the reason why we’re here,” John reminds her while he wipes the dust off his shirt. The flashlight attached to his backpack shines into her eyes, and she raises her hand to shield them. “I know you want to know as much as I do.”

“Yeah, but is it worth losing our lives over?” she counters for probably the hundredth time. It was John’s idea to go on this expedition after all. Once they made sure that Dean was safe with Bobby for the time they’re gone, they hopped from one country to another, following leads that were probably going to amount to nothing.

“We’re not losing our lives over this, Mary,” John says with a chuckle.

“I’m sorry, have you forgotten the time when Azazel Jaune sent his entire army to take us down once he realized we were going after the same thing as he was?”

“That was one time, Mary.”

“There were more times and you know it. Roman, the Dragon, and let’s not forget the four riders of the Apocalypse, shall we?”

Each time had been more terrifying than the other. Mary still shivers at the thought of it.

“If I recall correctly, the four riders ended up only being three with Mortimer Pocalyps deciding to help us out in the end,” John quickly counters.

Right, he has a point with that one, but sure enough the other three of the brothers Pocalyps were nightmare-inducing enough as it is. Warren, Percival and Fabian Pocalyps are, to this day, still the scariest persons she knows. And that means a lot, given the fact that she doesn’t scare that easily.

“Whatever, John,” she mutters, following John through the broken wall, then taking a look at the long, dusty hallway they’ve found themselves in. It’s ancient, thousands of years old. It’s rather a miracle that nobody’s found this place so far.

Of course, that’s because nobody knew what to look for before.

“Incredible,” Mary mutters out in astonishment. Sure, there are prettier sights to behold, but to be the firsts to find this after such a long time means that somebody really didn’t want people to come across this.

“Look, there’s the symbol again,” John says, pointing at a dark stain on the wall. Indeed, Mary recognizes the curves and stripes that form the figure they’re following. She walks up to it, pressing her fingers against it.

“What does this thing mean,” she mutters to herself, hating that she doesn’t know. Not even all her books managed to help her out with it. There’s nothing in all her knowledge and extended knowledge through books that could help her out. Not even Bobby knows what it means, and he’s a lot smarter than anybody seems to give him credit for.

She’s sure her parents would have known, had they still been here…

“Let’s just follow it, alright?” John suggests. Mary nods, and together the two head into the darkness of the hallway. In horror movies, this is where the audience would shout at the screen for the people to get out of there. Mary, of course, doesn’t believe in all that crap. There’s nothing supernatural going to haunt their asses. So, she stays by John’s side, taking in each version of the symbol they come across.

The hallway splits in two, one path going right and the other one going left. With a short look at each other, the two nod and assure that their walkie-talkies are at the same frequencies. Then they separate without hesitation. They’re used to this, so Mary doesn’t feel nervous at all.

She just wants to know. So badly.

Having chosen the left path, Mary tries to time the walk she’s making, from the time they separated to when she arrives at a large, stone door. On it, there’s once again the symbol. Mary makes a thinking noise, grabbing the walkie-talkie and pressing down the button.

“John, come in. I think I’ve got something,” she says.

“ _I’ve got something as well. A large stone door?”_

Mary nods, carefully punching her hands against the door. “Yeah, it’s massive. We’re going to need a lot of explosives to break it open.” Her fingers travel over each piece of stone on the wall around it, trying to find any pressure points or anything else that looks out of the ordinary.

“ _Can’t risk that without having this entire building collapsing on us,”_ John counters. “ _Try to find if there’s any hidden levers?”_

“Already on it.”

She puts the talkie down and uses both hands to search, though it seems like there’s just nothing there. With a sigh, she puts her hands on her hips and shakes her head.

“Come on, Mary, you’re usually better at this,” she mutters towards herself, passing her hand over her forehead and realizing she’s sweating. She’s been feeling a bit under the weather the entire day already, but like always she’s biting through it.

There’s one more reason for her to want to go back home, though. Next to the obvious one being her son, she just really needs the comfort of her house to find confirmation for something she so far hasn’t shared with John.

She skipped her period. She’s been feeling nauseous. And while it could be coincidental and could mean a lot of things, Mary just needs to be sure that she’s not carrying a child along to another dangerous mission.

The moment she learned she was pregnant with Dean, she hung up her hiking boots for a while and remained in Kansas. She never intended on going back, but when her curiosity on the symbol became too much, she agreed to go on one last hunt. Just to find out what exactly her first born is involved in.

And here she is, only today having thought of the fact that her symptoms look familiar, in a way.

 _“Mary, I got something,”_ John suddenly says through her device. Pulled out of her train of thoughts, Mary picks it up to press the button.

“On my way,” she returns. Then she starts on her trek back, trying to keep her head in the game. As long as there’s no dangerous cliffs or crazy people with guns around them, she has nothing to worry about. Meaning just the same old thing as always.

Once she regroups with John, she finds that he somehow managed to open the door.

“How did you do it?” she wonders, gliding her fingers over the stone and wondering what is different from the one she was standing in front of.

“I don’t know,” John says. That’s when Mary notices him holding a bloody handkerchief in his hand. She remembers that one; it’s the one she got from Bobby’s wife for her birthday. Her initials are written on it. Last time they used it, John had been cleaning up the blood off Dean’s knee after he fell a few days ago. John must have kept it in his pocket unintentionally.

Mary takes his hand into her own and looks at the wound. It doesn’t look too bad, just another scrape as always.

“Let me guess, you punched the wall?” she asks with a smirk. John shrugs.

“It was worth a shot,” he returns. “It opened a little bit after that.”

“Let’s find out what’s inside,” she says, nodding towards the dark room now next to them. John hums in agreement, dabbing further away at his wound before tying the handkerchief around it and following her inside.

Mary realizes that they would need a much bigger light source. It’s impossible to take in all the drawings around them. They look Ancient Greek, maybe. There’s no text underneath it to confirm that thought. The drawings seem to just be that; art. There doesn’t seem to be a message. Mary moves on from them, trying to find any bigger clues before coming back to them.

“What language is this?” John suddenly asks. He’s moved ahead of her, already standing at the far end of the room, shining against the wall in front of him. Even from where Mary is standing, she can see that there’s something written on it. “Doesn’t look like Greek.”

Mary approaches him, eyes passing over the letters. “Because it isn’t,” she returns. “It’s Enochian.”

“Enochian? I thought that was just a language created by two nutheads who thought they communicated with Angels?” John returns.

“Kind of true, they used it to communicate through their journals. One of the founders even called it ‘Angelical’ rather than ‘Enochian’.”

“So it’s mumbo jumbo?” John mutters. Mary give him an unimpressed look.

“John, it’s the first _real_ clue we’ve found since we started this,” she counters. “We’re not throwing this away just because you refuse to believe in Angels.”

John rolls his eyes. “I’ll never understand your obsession with Angels,” he mutters back at her. Mary ignores him in favor of grabbing her notebook and letting John shine his light on the text.

“I can’t read this, but I’m sure we can find somebody who could,” Mary offers. “Maybe Bobby knows somebody?”

“I doubt it, but it’s worth a try,” John finishes as Mary copies over the text. Once she’s finished, she grabs her camera and takes a picture of it for good measure. Afterwards, she goes over the paintings on the wall, grabbing a shot of them as well. John keeps on illuminating the walls to help her out. The moment the last picture is taken, she puts the camera away again.

“We should go and check out the other door,” Mary eventually suggests. John nods, following his wife out of the room. Mary stops in her tracks when her foot taps against something. She frowns, looking down and picking it up.

“What’s that?” John asks. Mary blows against the little figure in her hands until all the dust is gone, and then she observes it. There’s a face in it, two little horns. It’s a necklace, though the cord that was used broke long ago. It looks completely out of time.

“I don’t know,” she admits. “Let’s check it out later.” She puts it in the pocket of her jacket and gets back into the hallway. As they walk further away from the door, it suddenly shuts itself back with a loud noise that startles the couple.

They don’t reach the second door. They’re stopped upon hearing an explosion on the surface. The ground shakes around them, dust collecting from the ceiling. Mary unintentionally grabs on to John’s arms, their feet trying to keep them stable on the floor.

“We should get out of here,” John suggests.

“Couldn’t agree with you, more,” Mary returns. They start running back to the direction they came from, exiting through the hole in the wall, over the pile of rocks that John put there. With another explosion, they watch as the other pieces of the wall start crumbling down as well, the ceiling lowering itself on it and blocking the path for them.

“Shit!” John hisses when they hear people in the back, heading up their way. A short look shared with Mary, and the two press their backs against the wall, shielding themselves away from their line of sight. Things were going good enough without any interruption. Mary guesses she shouldn’t be surprised it wouldn’t last much longer.

“Look around, Azazel wants them out of the picture,” they hear somebody say. Mary’s entire body feels cold all the sudden upon hearing that name. She looks back at John, who seems equally surprised. Her hand reaches for her gun – she always holds one with her just in case – but she doesn’t move from her spot. A quick look over the doorway and she sees two people approaching their way.

A quick, wordless conversation with John is enough for the two of them to work perfectly together. John takes the one on his side, while Mary takes the other. A quick, swift movement pulls them in their direction. Mary smashes the guy’s head against the wall until he collapses on the ground. When he wakes up, it’s going to be with a massive headache.

John and Mary both shrug off the guy’s uniform – a warm-looking jacket with an army pattern on it. They grab their weapons as well, and Mary is glad to find some kind of explosives on her guy. John, on the other hand, gets himself a shotgun.

“Try and fool these guys?” John suggests. Mary shrugs.

“Worth an effort,” she returns. She puts on the hat the guy had been wearing, hiding away her hair underneath it. It’s good she kept it short all this time. Climbing things with long locks is incredibly annoying!

They head into the direction the two men came from. Once they return in the grand chamber that brought them to the underground tunnel, they find that there’s a lot more people in there than they realized.

“Pretend to look around,” Mary hisses at John, and he nods. The two separate, walking around the room in search for more hidden locations. It’s a surprise, really, that nobody else went into the secret hallway. But, those two were probably just scouts or anything like that.

“And, what’cha got?” somebody asks.

“Nothing here,” another one answers.

“Nobody.”

“Ain’t here.”

The last one was John. She hopes they don’t expect an answer from her, because then the gig would be up very quickly.

“You three, go into that hallway and find out what’s taking those idiots this long,” the one that must be the boss orders. Much to Mary’s horror, she finds the guy pointing at John and two other dudes. A small relief passes over her when John goes along with it. Good, if there are less people in this room, maybe Mary can try and take them down stealthily, taking them one by one. She hopes that John is doing the same thing.

It takes about three minutes for Mary to find an opportunity to take down the guy on her left. Nobody’s watching as they head into another hallway. Just when the guy’s about to ask her something, she puts her hand behind his head and smashes it against the wall. The guy lets out a grunt of pain, but falls down unconscious. Blood drips out of his nose. Mary gets out of there as quickly as she can.

The second guy she manages to punch so hard in the face that he falls down on the ground as well. She hides him underneath the desk, sure that somebody’ll find him eventually.

“There’s something in there!” John calls out, running back into the room. He tries to appear breathless.

“What? Where are the others?” the boss calls out angrily.

“I don’t know, they were suddenly gone! When I turned around they were lying on the ground, unconscious!”

The boss grumbles, motioning for the others to follow him into that hallway. He pushes his entire body against John as he passes him, making John trip over his feet – it’s just an act, of course. Once the entire crew is into the secret passage, John quickly reaches for the secret lever, making the door close itself again.

“We should get out of here now,” John suggests. Mary rolls her eyes. She grabs John’s hand and pulls him along through the building.

It’s a matter of evasion and hiding on their way out. More often than not they’re spending minutes in silence, crouched down next to a desk or anything else. Mary has no idea how long they’re doing this, but it seems like they’re about on their way out when suddenly something yanks John backwards.

“I got them!” a voice shouts. The man punches John in the face before preparing himself for a kick. Mary shoots him in the guts before he can manage. Together the two start running.

“Did they close down the entire castle?” Mary hisses bitterly.

“Don’t be surprised if we get the authorities on our asses again,” John returns. They march through the chambers, startling a couple of tourists with their running.

“What was that explosion before, if there are still tourists here?” Mary asks. She grabs John’s arm and pulls him along to a side room, disturbing a group trying to listen to their guide. In her hurry, she loses the coat and hat. When she sees a woman having dropped her jacket unknowingly, she grabs it off the floor and puts it on. John seems to do the same thing with whatever else he finds.

“Looks like they’re renovating. Loud noises are expected,” he explains when they come across a sign that has been translated to English. Once they’re both dressed in other people’s clothes, they try to merge themselves into a guided tour. They don’t understand anything of it, obviously, since it’s in Czech.

“Honey, you’ve got some blood on your lip,” she whispers at him. She reaches into the pocket of the jacket she stole, glad to find a packet of clean tissues. Pressing one against her husband’s lip, she shields her head away when the group heads in their direction, throwing orders all around.

In Czech, the leader orders something towards the tourists. Everybody seems startled, the group disassembling a bit. After a short nod, Mary and John go their separate ways as well. The people know to look for two individuals, after all.

“Meet you outside,” Mary whispers at him.

Mary follows the other tourists through the evacuation. She can’t count on the fact that none of these people know her face; if they work with Azazel, she’s surely fucked any way.

The amount of people that are outside are still high in numbers. Mary curses at herself for not giving out a better meeting point. Something more specific.

Azazel’s men start storming towards the castle, jumping out of the trucks. Mary’s breath stops for a moment when Azazel, himself, steps out of the last car. She shivers all over, trying to blend in with the crowd as much as she can. Azazel’s wearing his signature yellow sunglasses, looking over the tourists like they’re all beneath him. Then he follows his men inside.

Somebody yanks at her arm. She’s about ready to start shouting abuse until she sees it’s John.

“We need to leave, now,” he hisses at her. Mary nods, taking his hand and letting herself be guided through the crowd.  

They did not anticipate the perimeter around the castle.

“There they are!” somebody shouts. Mary just feels a stinging pain in her side before she falls on the ground. Looking down, she finds blood on the jacket she stole. Shit, she’s been shot?!

“Mary!” John calls out. There are hands reaching for her, tourists shouting in panic. Mary’s barely aware of what’s happening, too focused on the wound in her side. It can’t be true, can it? Did somebody actually shoot her? Without any reason for it?

“The Winchesters,” a familiar voice calls out. Mary punches her bloodied hand on the ground, looking up to find Azazel towering over them. He’s smirking, tight in a suit with those yellow glasses still on. John, next to her, is making angry noises as the man reaches out for her. “Such a thorn in my side all this time.”

“Fuck you, you asshole,” John hisses towards him. Azazel just smirks at the man before directing his attention back towards Mary. She shivers, recoiling at the realization that this man seems to have this eternal fixation on her.

“My, John, such filthy words. Surely, a beautiful woman as yours does not deserve to listen to that kind of vulgar language, does she?”

Mary gasps out in pain, tears rolling over her cheeks. Meanwhile, Azazel grabs Mary’s bag, fishing out the camera from it. How happy she is that she put the notebook inside her jacket, otherwise he would have taken that one as well.

“Let’s see what pictures you’ve taken, shall we?” Azazel suggests with a nasty grin. He gets up at last, moving away from her.

“John,” she gasps out. They’re literally fucked right now, guns pointed at them from every corner. Where’s the police right now? The guards? It’s not possible that Azazel can just parade his people around like they own the place, right?

“Hold on, sweety,” John assures her, squeezing her hand. Mary grunts again, letting out a relieved breath when Azazel backs away.

“Take them along. I’ve got a feeling that we’ll need them to figure this shit out,” Azazel instructs. His people nod, and three of them head towards the couple on the ground.

All heads turn when suddenly a pale car appears. Unbothered by the people standing in the way – those people being Azazel’s men, the car drives all the way to where John and Mary are being hauled off the ground. Mary recognizes the car immediately and she lets out a relieved breath.

“Get in, you imbeciles,” Mort says through the open window. The fact that the car has only two doors isn’t all that helpful, but as it turns out Mort was prepared for this as the seat is already pulled up. John punches the guy that was about to drag them along before picking Mary off the ground. He hurries her into the car, Mort already hitting the accelerator as John still tries to crawl inside.

“Holy shit, Mort, calm down a second!” John curses while he struggles to close the door behind him.

“I wouldn’t have to hurry like this if it weren’t for your idiotic asses to be found. I told you I wanted minimal inclusion with this, didn’t I?” Mort huffs back, unworried about the couple of soldiers he accidentally runs off the street. Much like John, Mort’s never been too conflicted about taking other people’s lives. Mary, in contrary, rather knocks them out, though she, too, does what’s necessary when she has no other options.

“We had a good thing going!”

“Until you didn’t.” Mort throws a picture to the backseat, and John picks it up. Mary looks quickly, finding a familiar image in front of her.

“Th-that’s the-“

“The librarian you two idiots befriended yesterday, yes,” Mort says. “She was working for Jaune all along.”

“God damnit,” John hisses. Mary just grunts painfully again.

Mort drives them all the way to the hospital, using flawless Czech to explain to them what happened. As he returns to his car to look at the damage – being the bullet holes the vehicle received during their escape – John stays by Mary’s side as they look after her wound. It’s not too deep, the bullet went through and didn’t hit any vital organs.

Mary’s not too surprised when they announce whatever else they’ve found.

“Pr-pregnant?” John utters out, a hand going to his hair.

“Looks like you’re about five weeks along now,” the Doctor confirms. “Luckily, the baby looks perfectly fine, though I would advise lots of rest.” The accent is heavy on the woman’s voice, but they both understand her just fine.

When the Doctor leaves the room, there’s a thick silence hanging above them.

“We’re going home, aren’t we?” Mary tries. She hopes they are. She doesn’t want to continue this search anymore. Not now that she’s been shot. They have a son, for crying out loud. They almost killed this baby inside her stomach, as well. She doesn’t want to risk it anymore.

“Hell yeah, I’m going back to the hotel and pack our bags. I’ll ask Mort if he’ll stay with you.”

Relief washes over Mary. She watches John leave after ten minutes of seeing him cry out happy tears – after all, they’re expecting another child. Once Mort re-enters the room, she explains the situation. Mort just makes a cynical comment of not having to save their asses anymore, now.

It’s weird, how they were once adversaries but now Mort kind of ended up taking them under his wings. He’s not the most sensitive of people, but he provides help whenever needed and has a massive amount of knowledge.

That evening, they’re on the first flight back to America, the lead they were following long forgotten by the time their second son, Sam Winchester, is born.

 


	2. Dad's on a hunting trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was nice to rewatch the first episode once again for this. Just setting up the story. I'll try to post chapters every week, or maybe every two weeks, depending on how quickly I'm writing. So far 9 chapters are written, so we're nearly halfway
> 
> Chapter warnings: see end note

 

_November 1 st, 2005  
Palo Alto, California_

 

Granted, breaking into his brother’s apartment isn’t exactly his brightest idea, but to be fair he can’t be blamed. Ending up on his back, with his brother leaning over him and ready to punch the intruder in the face, Dean figures he’ll just get a nice bruise along with it. It’s not like he doesn’t deserve it, after all.

He only feels slightly guilty at elbowing his brother’s face, and now lying on the ground he’s got his hand ready at Sam’s neck and the other one holding his wrist to stop him from throwing that last punch.

“Whoa, easy, tiger,” Dean jokes out breathlessly. He’s glad to see that his brother hasn’t lost those skills of him. True, his hand-to-hand never matched to Dean’s, but he’s still incredibly good at it. Dean taught him well, it seems.

“Dean?” Sam Winchester asks while breathing loudly. Man, has it really been four years since Dean’s last seen him? It feels like a lifetime. Where’s that little guy he remembers? Since when does his little brother tower over him like that? “You scared the crap out of me!”

Dean grins, loosening his grip on his brother.

“That’s ‘cause you’re out of practice,” he counters playfully, only to getting his hand yanked at and receiving a heel into his back. Once again, Dean lands onto the floor with a grunt. “Or not.”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

It’s a funny story, really. Or maybe not that funny. Because the year Sam turned eighteen, he bailed out on them with the simple message that said ‘farewell’. Four years of not speaking to each other, and probably a lot has changed already.

“Well, I was looking for a beer,” Dean tries in an attempt to loosen himself up. He’s got a long explanation ahead of him, and he’s not sure how he’s going to bring it, after all. Not in a way that will convince his brother to come along.

“Dean,” Sam warns him, and Dean rolls his eyes. He holds up his hands in defeat.

“Okay, calm down, I’m here to talk.”

Sam huffs out a breath. “There’s this amazing invention called ‘the phone’, Dean.”

And that’s just the thing, isn’t it? Because there is, and yet, Dean’s absolutely sure that if he would have called, Sam would not have picked up. When he voices his doubts, he sees his brother lowering his head. He at least has the decency of looking ashamed about that fact.

The light turning on is a surprise, and so is meeting Sam’s way too hot girlfriend. But Dean’s not here to flirt, so he assures his brother that he needs to talk to him in private. Sam, ever the gentleman, refuses.

“Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of her,” he says. The silent groan inside of Dean’s mind is still going strong, and he wishes he could just bang his head against the wall.

“Okay,” he then says. “Dad hasn’t been home in a few days.”

That’s innocent enough, right? Though, he doubts this Jess wouldn’t know about the infamous treasure hunter-family. After all, they’ve discovered quite some hidden things already in the past.

“It’s mom’s anniversary. Are you surprised?” Sam returns, and Dean could just strangle him. Sam’s always been difficult to take along, ever so rebellious. The only child that wasn’t afraid to jump into planes always refusing to come along.

He really needs Sam on this one. He can’t just do this alone, nor does he want to. He needs his brother.

“Dad’s on a hunting trip, and he hasn’t been home in a few days.” 

Dean gives him the situation. Last he remembers his Dad was heading to Prague, said he was following an old lead he had left behind years ago. When Dean had offered to come along, John had refused.

That was about two weeks ago. Meaning that there’s been exactly fourteen days without any form of contact whatsoever. And sure, Dean knows that calling abroad is expensive shit, but with all the treasures that they’ve helped collect over the years it’s not like they can’t afford that.

“Dean, you know how Dad’s obsession on baiting Mom’s killer makes him sometimes. He’ll fly back up eventually and pretend nothing happened,” Sam argues after Dean’s given him the facts. They’re outside of the apartment, standing near the Impala.

“So, what, you want me to pretend that everything’s fine? Just live on like normally?”

Dean doesn’t want that. Not only did Cassie just kind of dump him a couple of weeks back, but he’s feeling extremely restless, needing an actual _good_ job that will take weeks to finish. Not just a simple flight to a little country where they just want him to identify old ruins or climb down dangerous shit because he’s the only one who dares to do so.

“Not just normal, Dean. Safe.”

Dean rolls his eyes. “You ran away to be safe?”

“I just wanted to go to college. Dad told me to stay gone, which is what I’m doing.” Sam puts his hands on his hips, looking annoyed. Well, that makes both of them.

“Yeah, you didn’t just leave _him_ , remember?”

Sam stays quiet and Dean lets out a long breath.

“Dad’s in real trouble now. I can feel it. And I can’t do this alone.”

“Yes, you can,” Sam counters. And it’s true, Dean has enough knowledge and skills to do this on his own. But he knows he thinks better with his brother finishing his thoughts. He needs Sam to be a part of this.

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to.”

Another sigh escapes his brother, and then Sam leans up against the Impala, giving the car a good look. Dean knows how familiar she must be for Sam, so many memories they all have with it. Sam doesn’t even seem surprised that Dean has her with him.

“What was he chasing?” his younger brother eventually asks, and Dean could just hug him that instant. Instead of doing that, though, Dean opens up the trunk of the car where he’s stocked up all the books and folders he found in his Dad’s room before he left.

The sight is familiar to both of them. In the box that Dean has safely put away they find the black-leathered journal they associate with their mother. Or, Dean associates it with her since he still remembers her. Sam was too young to do so. Dean wonders if that’s another reason why it was so easy for his little brother to ditch him that easily.

“Before they retired, Mom and Dad were hunting whatever was inside this book. After finding out that she was pregnant with you they decided to give up on it. Now I think Dad’s picked it up again.”

Sam takes the journal and goes through it. Dean knows Sam never looked through it. Before finding it abandoned in the room Dean had never seen inside of it, neither. All he can make of it is some mumbo jumbo language he can’t read.

“This is gibberish,” Sam says after going through the pages. Not even half of the journal has been written in, clearly their search not having been that long before they gave up on it. “You expect to find out what they were looking for with just this?”

Dean shrugs.

“According to this journal, they found this stuff all the way in Prague. Went to the Prague Castle where they stumbled upon a secret passage in one of the royal rooms. After that, it just stops. I suggest we head out there and pick it up where they left off?”

Clearly, Dean is just doing wishful thinking. It’s obvious in Sam’s expression that he has no intention of coming along with him. Dean wonders why he’s still surprised, even?

“Four years, Sammy. I never bothered you, never asked for a thing.” Dean feels this ache in his chest. “It fucking sucked, you ditchin’ me like that. The least you could do is do me a solid and help me do some research.”

That seems to do the trick. Sam lowers his head and nods in agreement.

“Alright, I suppose I could do at least that.”

The next morning, they hit the library. They spend the entire day in there, looking up the internet, books and anything news-related from that area. Dean’s about ready to throw his hands up in the air until Sam comes across something that sounds promising at last.

“So get this, Dean,” Sam starts. “I looked over this language, and you’re not going to believe it.”

“Hit me,” Dean says gruffly, a bit tired of the smell of books. He could use a good lead.

“It’s Enochian,” Sam says, turning his laptop around so that Dean could read along.

“Enochy-what now?” Dean asks in confusion, though he has to agree that this language does look a lot like whatever their mom wrote down in there.

“Quoting Wikipedia, ‘ _Enochian is an occult language popularized by John Dee and Edward Kelley in the 16 th Century. They claimed it was revealed to them by Angels, though most contemporary practitioners of magic consider it a constructed language’._”

“Oh, so it’s a language invented by idiots who thought they were hearing voices?” Dean counters. Sam ignores him.

“I did some research on these two characters. They met each other in 1581, and they were known as alchemists. They pursuit the supernatural, always giving it a Christian link, you know, Angels, exorcisms after supposed possessions and stuff. After several events, the two ended up in Prague, where by then Emperor Rudolf II ruled.”

“Okay, so?”

“So, he was greatly fascinated in alchemy and was very occult-oriented. It said specifically that he worked with Kelley for a time before Rudolf had him arrested once he decided there was a lack of results.”

Dean nods. “So, the inhabitant of the palace works together with a guy that helped invent Enochian, and then a mysterious Enochian text shows up in a hidden passageway underneath the palace?” Dean tries to recapitulate. Sam nods in agreement.

“Yeah, that’s about it.”

“Okay, cool. Is there some sort of Enochian translator on that site of yours that could help us out?” Dean tries. Sam just lets out a sigh as he shakes his head.

“No, though I’ve tried to translate each letter individually, though I have no clue what it says.” Sam slides a piece of paper in Dean’s direction and Dean gives it a quick look.

“Niis Oiad Gemeganza- okay I have no fucking clue what that means,” Dean mutters out in defeat, sliding the piece of paper back to Sam who puts it into the notebook.

“Neither do I. And there aren’t exactly any translators online.” Sam sighs. “I suppose we can’t really do anything right now.”

Dean grunts in annoyance. He really thought they would be getting somewhere, but of course they had to stumble across the one language nobody can translate.

“We could ask Bobby?” Sam suggests. “Or Mort?”

Dean snorts bitterly. “Yeah, as if. I’m sure that, if either of them had known they would have told her so.” Another sigh escapes his mouth, his mind wandering back to both Bobby and Mort. The two men aren’t related to them by any means. Bobby’s just an old friend of the family who practically raised Dean whenever John decided a job was too dangerous to bring two kids along.

Mort, in turn, is more of an unofficial grandfather who rather pretends he doesn’t know them but would help out in case they’re in trouble. Dean knows little about him, aware that he has three psycho brothers who are stuck in jail, but not more than that. Now that Mort has officially turned eighty, it’s safe to say that he’s staying away from any sort of action.

“Huh, how ‘bout this?”

Dean looks up. “What?” he asks.

“Well, there’s this guy who wrote an article on Enochian. Looks like some sort of kid genius or something. Got himself a PhD in religious studies at the age of twenty-five and is supposedly a ‘database’ of anything religious.”

“You reckon ‘Enochian’ fits under that description?” Dean tries.

“It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”

“I suppose.” Dean’s eyes wander to the side when some college girls come wandering by. They’re wearing crop tops, long hair going straight down. Dean bites his lower lip, knowing he shouldn’t but unable to resist. He appreciates the sight a whole lot.

“Hey, stop that,” Sam hisses at him, slapping his arm. Dean flips him off, but does avert his eyes eventually. Should he tell him about his recent(-ish) break-up? He doesn’t really feel like talking about it, so he should probably keep it to himself, right?

“I hate not knowing where Dad is,” Dean mutters out then. He takes out his cellphone, clapping the thing open to see if there’s still no new message. Just like he expected, nothing. He grunts, throwing the device on the table and getting a few glares from the other people here.

“You think he went back to Prague?” Sam suggests. Dean shrugs.

“It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” he tries. Sam chuckles.

“No, no, no. I agreed to help you with research. I didn’t say I was going to fly across the world to another country.” Sam holds his hands up. “How about this; I pass you any details on this Dr. Novak-guy and you’ll ask _his_ help from now on, huh?”

Dean just stares at his brother, unable to think straight for a moment.

“You really like her, don’t you?” he blurts out without realizing it. Sam frowns, blinking at Dean with confusion.

“Uh, yeah, I do,” he returns. Dean swallows past a lump in his throat.

“You’re gonna propose?”

Sam startles, making Dean laugh hesitantly.

“I saw you toyin’ with that box when you thought I wasn’t lookin’,” Dean admits. “I’m, uh… I’m happy for you.”

Sam hesitates for a moment, instead just observing his brother. “What, no speech about how I shouldn’t leave the adventure behind? About how boring my life is about to become?”

Dean shakes his head. He closes the journal, starts collecting the books they’ve picked out and gets ready to bring them back to the tray of used books.

“Nope,” he says in earnest. When he gets back from putting the books away, he still only gets confusion from his brother. “What?”

“I’m surprised, is all.” Sam closes his laptop and puts it back into his bag. “I mean, I’m glad you’re still doing what you love doing. But I’m also glad you’re agreeing with my choice.”

Dean shrugs. “Eh, I guess I should be happy you’re not letting yourself dangle over massive cliffs or climbing buildings like we used to when we were kids.”

Sam laughs. Those were the memories, indeed. When they were younger, and pulled along to whichever country they went to this time, the boys were often kept to wait in their hotel room while John looked for any treasure in the neighborhood. More often than not, the brothers escaped the confines of the hotel room and climbed around buildings in the city. John shouldn’t have been surprised each time he had to come back to an empty room, only to travel around the town and find his two sons dangling their feet over the roof of the highest building.

They’re complementary when it comes to climbing. Sam is better in finding the best way to climb up safely, while Dean is using his strength and good reflexes to get himself everywhere he wants to. Things tend to break under his fingers, so it’s a good gift to have.

He does kind of miss the early years where it was just him and his little brother, the two of them running away from whichever market they stole food from. It was always great to use the ‘we’re tourists’-excuse whenever another cop would try to stop them. To be fair, they got away with almost anything.

But then came the time where John figured it was time Dean should join him. And Dean had been overjoyed. Instead of buildings, he now got to climb cliffs. Instead of sparring with his little brother, he now got to use his skills to stealthily take down another person. And the thrill of looking for clues and finding treasures at the end of the road… it was just amazing.

Dean hasn’t got much on his name; nothing note-worthy that is. He hasn’t found any lost civilizations, hasn’t discovered abandoned cities. Most he’s done is go through ruins, stumble across any sort of object that seems historical and bring them to any museum that’s interested in them.

“Dean, I should head back.”

Dean startles. Being pulled out of his train of thoughts, he almost forgot that having his brother next to him is supposed to be a rare occasion rather than something usual.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll take you back,” Dean says. He takes his keys out of his coat and gets on his feet. Sam quickly follows him out of the library, heading back into the car.

“You know, I really hope you’ll get to see the end of this hunt,” Sam offers before Dean can start up the car. “I’m rather curious what it was that they were after.”

“Are you doubting my ability to find this thing?” he asks jokingly. Sam gives him another eyeroll.

“Stop being a jerk and drive me home,” he returns. Dean just laughs as he starts up the engine, getting themselves on the road at last.

“Whatever you say, bitch,” Dean jokes in return.

The drive is short. Too short. It’s almost as if no time has passed since Dean snuck into this house to get to talk to his brother. Now, he’s watching Sam head out again, the guy probably having no intention of seeing him again, soon.

“Look up that Doctor for me, alright?” Sam offers. Dean just waves at him. It’s better to just rip off the bandage, not postponing the inevitable. Sam will be here, and Dean will be on his own once again. He came for his brother’s help. He shouldn’t complain now that he’s got it. It’s not as much as he wanted, but it’s a lot better than having nothing at all.

An hour later finds Dean spending his time at a diner, looking into his mother’s journal. He knows what their parents were after. It’s the biggest reason why he wants to know as well. They were looking up the origins of the mark. That’s as much as he can remember from when he was little.

The mark; a symbol looking like two moons opposite each other, one bigger than the other. The moon on the right has three wing-like stripes, along with three little dots on it. What it means, nobody knows. The symbol hasn’t yet appeared on any website or database, and frankly, Dean doubts that they’ll find more about it in Prague.

He. He’ll find more about it. He’s alone, after all.

“You need anything more, sugar?” a woman in her mid-fourties asks Dean while holding a coffee pot in her hand. She looks pretty, dark hair put together in a bun with only a few lines of silver decorating them. Her eyes are dark, sympathetic.

“Just more coffee, please,” Dean responds kindly. The woman smiles at him, filling his cup before heading out once again. Dean just sighs, closing the journal.

His brother has it good; he’s in college, becoming a lawyer. Jess is a beautiful, kind woman. Their lives are _normal_. Dean can’t just come in and take that away from them, can he? He knows how much his brother hated the life, after all.

But Dean really doesn’t want to do it without him. Besides, surely his Dad is fine, right? He’s gone all the time, and sure, this time it might be longer than usual… Shit, Dean wants to smash his face against the table. He can’t just side at the sides while his Dad is missing.

Looking down at his wrist he notices the bracelet he’s been wearing for the past year. He got it from Cassie back when they were on a holiday in Peru. Shit, they’ve had so much fun checking out ancient Incan ruins and scratching off abandoned cities from their list. And he’d loved her. So much.

But then she started talking about settling down, moving in together, thinking about kids, and Dean just ran.

Look, it was a miracle on its own that he actually agreed to be in a relationship with her, as he’s usually just the one looking for casual things. The fact that he didn’t run away the moment she asked him if they were exclusive should earn him a medal or something.

But the inevitable happened, and when Cassie realized that Dean’s just not the guy to settle down with she put an end to it. And it had hurt, a lot.

Luckily, his dad disappearing is enough to keep his mind off it.

“Excuse me, sweetheart. You happen to have any scissors in here?” Dean asks the waitress as she passes him by once again. The woman nods, heading towards the counter and handing him the pair. Dean nods in a thanks before bringing the tool towards the bracelet.

 _Like a band-aid,_ he reminds himself. Without further doubt, he cuts the cord in two, ignoring the pang of guilt he feels upon seeing the beads with the C and the D turning up towards him. He quickly grabs the bracelet and hides it away in the pocket of his jacket.

“Dean Winchester?”

Dean looks up, confused upon being called by name. Nobody other than his brother should know him here, so it’s a stretch for anybody to just run into him. When he looks up and sees a young, short-haired blonde woman walk up to him with a big smile on her face, Dean frowns.

Sure, she’s hot, but he doesn’t trust her at all.

“My name is Meg Masters. I’ve been looking for you,” she says, holding out her hand for him to shake. Ever the gentleman, Dean returns the gesture. “Can I sit down?”

Dean frowns but gestures for her to do so. Once Meg is seated down, she puts her hands together and grins back up at him.

“What’s so important that you chased me down all the way here for?” Dean asks. He picks up his cup of coffee and starts taking a sip. The woman keeps up that nasty smirk, like she knows more than he does. It’s kind of unsettling.

“I come in the name of my father. He heard on good authority that you and your pops are back on the hunt for the mark,” Meg says.

“Your father?” he asks, unclear as to who she’s talking about. He has no knowledge of any Masters in his past.

“Mr. Jaune. Azazel. You know who I’m talking about,” she returns. Then she nods towards the journal that’s resting on the table next to Dean’s right hand. Immediately, he grabs it closer to himself to keep her from snatching it.

“You mean the asshole who murdered my mother?” Dean bites, anger filling him up uncontrollably. Meg shrugs.

“You have your truth, I have mine. The thing is, my father is looking for the origin of the mark as well. And he was suggesting putting aside our differences and maybe work together on it?” she offers.

“And what’s in it for me?” Dean asks, trying to find out as much as he can. In no way is he considering actually working with them, of course.

“You’ll get most of the credit on the expedition, of course, along with a fair price consisting 30% of the treasure.”

“30%? It we’re talking fair I should be getting at least seventy, you know, due to the fact that I constantly hang my life down the line to get to those treasures!”

Meg chuckles as she leans back in her seat as well. “An occupational hazard, I would assume.” Then she looks down at her cellphone before sighing. “Alright, how about forty? After all, father would be paying for the entire thing and I can assure you that traveling with such a large group isn’t cheap.”

Dean snorts. “My parents didn’t have a lot of money. They found things in groups of two or three. Bringing an army along is just the statement your good ol’ daddy wants to make.”

Meg glares at him. Dean rolls his eyes, pulling out his wallet to get some cash. Throwing it on the table, he gets onto his feet.

“Anyway, thanks for the offer, but I’ll be declining. With all due respect.” He bows at her before grabbing the journal off the table and picking up his coat.

“You know, my father doesn’t take to kindly to being rejected,” Meg warns him without moving from her seat. Dean shrugs, holding up his hands.

“Tell him that’s life. It’s nothing personal, except… of course, it is.”

There are a thousand and one reasons for him to refuse working with Azazel Jaune, the most obvious one being that he’s the biggest suspect in the murder of his mother. There’s no evidence, obviously, and even it there had been it seems like Azazel has control of the entire Police Force meaning that there’s nobody there who will arrest him.

Azazel Jaune, it’s a well-known name in the world. Born from wealthy parents, Jaune dedicated his entire life in traveling and finding treasures. He brought home a lot of priceless things, but everybody in the Winchester-family knew that nothing was priceless, and Azazel Jaune has no trouble paying with lives that aren’t his own. Heck, the guy would even trade his own daughter’s life to find the mark, probably.

Dean exits the diner with the intention of getting back to his hotel. He should check out the number he got from Sam, get in touch with this Dr. Novak. Dean doesn’t really feel like solving this mystery with a  guy he doesn’t know, but it’s better than being completely alone.

Before he can leave, he’s startled by Meg’s sudden presence at his door. He rolls his eyes, lowering his windows without exiting the car.

“Anything else, sweetheart?” he asks, trying to rile her up on purpose.

“I just want to make clear to you that my father does anything to get whatever he wants. Even if that means following your ass down during your entire trip.”

It’s a fair warning, but nothing he hasn’t been expecting.

“Ah, c’mon miss, you know I’m not getting far without my baby brother by my side?” he lies. He needs Jaune to underestimate him, after all. A playful smirk suddenly appears on Meg’s face as she leans further against the car. Dean hates her all the more for it. Her brown eyes bore into his, probably in an attempt to intimidate him.

“Right,” she then mutters out. She leans away at last, putting her hands inside her pockets as she watches him drive off. Dean shakes off the horror of having this woman touch his car and starts up the engine, making his way back to his hotel.

 

The rest of the day is mostly spent with him digging through his father’s notes, finding nothing other than the first few things that brought him to Prague to begin with. It starts with the appearance of the mark in an ancient Greek art-piece that had come up in the news around the time that Dean had been four. John and Mary had flown all the way to Prague after realizing that the piece was found all the way there. They must have had some reasons to believe that there was anything in the Palace, but his Mom’s journal doesn’t go further than this.

Instead of calling up the Doctor, Dean heads to a bar, flirts with the prettiest face he sees and ends up inviting her along into his bed. He’s drunker than he should have been, but right now he doesn’t care. He’s lonely, and just for now he needs something, someone to fill that void.

He gets rudely awakened by his cellphone in the middle of the night. The girl next to him startles as well, grunting in annoyance as the guitar-sounds of Dean’s ringtone fill the room. He mumbles multiple curses as he takes the phone into his hand and puts it against his ear.

“This better be important,” he mutters, having no idea who’s on the line. There’s a sniffing sound on the other line, as if somebody’s sobbing.

“ _Dean?_ ” the broken voice of his little brother asks. Dean sits up immediately, head clearing with alarms ringing all over his body.

“Sammy, what’s wrong?” he asks. He’s out of his bed in an instant, grabbing his clothes from the floor and putting them on with only one hand.

“ _It’s Jess, she- we got in an accident. The Doctors aren’t sure she’s going to make it-“_ Sam’s entire voice is shivering. He’s obviously crying, and everything inside of Dean tells him to go to his little brother and make sure that he’s safe.

“Where are you? I’m on my way.”

“ _The hospital, just… I don’t know what to do if I lose her, Dean, I-“_

“Just stay put, I’m heading out.”

After instructing the girl to just leave the keys at the lobby when she heads out, Dean grabs all of his possessions and throws them into his car. He has no intention on getting back to this room. His drive to the hospital – the one closest to where Sam lives, he presumes – is short. He’s probably broken a lot of speed limits.

He finds a bruised and grazed version of his brother waiting in the lobby. The guy has a brace on his wrist and ice pressing against his forehead, but otherwise he seems like he got off easily. The moment the younger Winchester notices his brother, he gets up to pull him into his arms.

“Dean, I-“ he starts, but instead of getting anything out he starts crying again. Dean shushes him, gently patting his back in assurance.

“Take it easy, Sammy,” Dean tells him. “Where is she?”

“Still in surgery,” Sam returns. “Brady- the, uh, the driver who hit us… he disappeared.”

Dean barely realizes he’s tightening his hold on his brother. Who-ever this Brady is, if Dean ever runs into him he’ll kill him for sure! Hitting them but not even having the decency to make sure they’re alright? That coward!

Dean stays with his brother for over two hours. Sammy’s leaning against Dean’s shoulder, eyes closed as he’s finally stumbled into a light sleep. They’re assigned a room – the room Jessica gets once she’s out of surgery – and Sam is given a bunch of pain killers along with instructions on how to take care of that wrist in the following days.

Sam startles awake the moment a Doctor enters the room. He’s still in scrubs and there are a couple of blood stains in his neck and forehead. When he looks at the brothers it’s with a sad expression.

Shit, she can’t be… Can she?

“Sam Winchester, could we talk for a moment?” the Doctor offers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:
> 
> \- Coma  
> \- Car crash


	3. Chasing Leads, Hunting Treasures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean came back to convince his brother to search for their dad, but Sam refused. Then Sam got out of an accident, and Jessica got hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wikipedia is my best friend in this story. And so is Caspinn. Give her all the love, because she is an amazing beta, and an even better person that keeps me constantly hyped
> 
> Chapter warnings at the end

 

“Two coffees, please. No milk, no sugar.”

Dean waits as the barista at the cafeteria hands him two cups of steaming hot coffee. Turning around, he’s facing the entire room filled with nurses, Doctors, patients or families sitting at tables, eating together in their escape from work or room.

Dean’s not intending in sitting there with them. He moves out back into the big hallway, following the signs that bring him back to the elevator that will bring him to the floor he needs to get to. His trip from the cafeteria back to the ICU ward takes him about five minutes. He isn’t too surprised to find that Sam hasn’t moved from his spot.

“Here you go, Sammy,” Dean says, handing his brother his cup. Sam looks up, eyes still red and face indicating that he hasn’t been sleeping in the past few days. It hurts, seeing his little brother like this, clinging on to Jessica Moore’s sleeping form on the bed.

Five days now she’s been in this state, out of imminent life danger but still not waking up on her own. It sucks, seeing her like this. Dean might not have known her well, but he knows she’s a good person and doesn’t deserve any of this.

“The, uh, the nurse said a social worker is coming over to talk with me,” Sam tells him. His voice is soft, almost a whisper. Dean knows he hasn’t been sleeping well and he can’t blame him.

“She said what they’ll come for?” Dean asks before putting the cup to his lips. Sam shrugs, setting his aside on Jessica’s nightstand.

“I don’t know,” he admits. Another sigh escapes his mouth. “I, uh, I told the school I’m not coming back this year. I just… I can’t-“

“Hey, hey, I get it,” Dean assures him. “You want to take care of your girlfriend. Nothing wrong with that.”

Sam lets out another shaky breath. “I had just proposed,” he mutters, taking Jessica’s bruised hand into his own. Indeed, there rests the ring Sam had been hiding away all the time. Dean hadn’t even noticed it before, too busy looking away from the broken form that is Sam’s love of his life. Her hair is shaven off, multiple gauzes on top of her skull. There’s a hole in her throat, bringing a tube directly into her airways. In her arm there’s an IV where she gets nutrition from, as well as the nasty-looking tube through her nose.

This is no way to live, but Dean isn’t about to tell his grieving brother that. Last time he suggested letting her go, he got himself a black eye and Sam hurt his sprained wrist once again. No, he’s keeping his mouth wisely shut. Surely, Sam will come to his own conclusions after a while.

A few days ago, Dean asked Sam why her parents weren’t there, to which Sam had answered that she lost her parents last year and that there’s nobody left. That just sucks.

Eventually, the social worker arrives into the room and without prompting Dean gets up to give them the privacy they need. He heads into the hallway, getting himself out of the nurses’ feet by going into the waiting room. As he waits, he plays some game on his cellphone before passing his hands over his face.

This sucks. This sucks a lot. Especially since they still haven’t found that Brady-guy who caused the accident. According to Sam, the guy used to be a friend of him and Jess, until he started getting off the rails. As Sam explained it, Brady seems to be stuck on drinking and drugs, which is probably the reason why he ran them off the road in the first place. Sam and Jess had just been returning from their date when they got hit.

By the time Dean sees the social worker walk out of the ward he hurries back inside. The coffee he brought Sam is cold by now. Sam is seated by the window, looking over the papers that the woman must have given him. If it’s possible, he looks even more worn down than before.

“Sammy? What’s up?” he asks. Sam doesn’t move.

“She, uh… she talked to me about the financial aspect of this…” Sam lowers the papers and looks out of the window.

“Well, you know we’ve got some money on the side, how much do you need?” Dean offers. Sam shakes his head.

“More than you have,” he says sadly. “If they keep her alive, I’ll be in debt for the rest of my life. And I would do it in an instant if I’m sure that she’ll wake up, but…”

“You’re not sure she’ll be waking up,” Dean concludes. Sam lowers his head once again, nodding in agreement. Dean just walks up to his brother, wrapping an arm over his shoulder and holding him close. Neither of them has been very affectionate in the past, but Dean just hates seeing his little brother so broken.

They remain in silence for a moment until another nurse comes in, checking in on Jessica.

“Has mom’s journal mentioned how much this treasure is worth?” Sam suddenly asks. Dean startles, pulling away from his brother.

“What do you-?” he starts asking, only to find his brother shaking his head at him.

“How much, Dean?”

Dean hesitates for a few minutes before letting out the breath he’s been holding.

“Millions, maybe billions.” He’s not sure about it, but it’s what this Azazel-person seems to have told their mother. Dean’s not even sure what it is they’re chasing.

Sam nods, giving Jessica’s sleeping form a long look as he clenches his jaw.

“Let’s go find it, then,” he grits out. Dean frowns towards his brother.

“Sammy-“

“I need the money, Dean!” Sam shouts suddenly. “If I have the money and lose it when Jessica doesn’t wake up, I don’t care. But if I don’t get the money I’ll only get myself in debt for the rest of my life.”

“Sammy, we could be gone for months, maybe years,” Dean tries to bring some sense into him. Sam won’t have it.

“I don’t care,” he returns. "If Jess wakes up before that, then I’ll take the first flight back. If she doesn’t, I’ll…” Sam stops talking, letting out another tense breath. “I’ll deal with it.”

Dean stays quiet, taking in his brothers form. Sam Winchester used to be so tiny, always smaller than Dean. And while by now he towers over his older brother, he looks small again, standing like he’s constantly trying to keep himself together. He looks fragile, like he’s about to break. By far doesn’t he seem able to join Dean on this quest.

But Dean’s pretty sure he won’t be able to get this off his mind. Sam’s not going to back down no matter what Dean throws at him. At least, the best he can do is make sure his brother won’t be doing stupid things.

“Alright,” he finally agrees. Then he points towards Jessica. “But we’re moving her to Illinois.”

“Why?” Sam asks in confusion.

“So we don’t have to ask Bobby to drive all the way over here to keep us updated about her situation,” Dean returns.

Dean hates leaving Baby behind. Sure, he can’t fly across the world with her, but she’s always his one mode of transportation whenever he stays within the States.

“We drove all the way to Sioux Falls, Dean! I’m not losing more time because you want to prove just how good a driver you are!”

Yeah, now that Sam’s out of the hospital, he’s back to his sassy self. Kind of. He’s still quiet at many occasions, but other than that he at least manages to open his mouth more.

Jessica has been moved to a hospital near Bobby’s house yesterday, and they’ve already had confirmation that she arrived there safely. Sam and Dean made the long drive to Sioux Falls almost wordlessly, Dean unsure as what he can say to his little brother that will not trigger him into another panic attack.

He’s had those. It sucks, seeing his little brother hurting so much and being unable to do anything about it.

It’s Sam’s idea to drive to Sioux Falls, so at least they can get the Impala at Bobby’s place for the time that they’re gone. When Dean asks how they get to Illinois, Sam suggests the plane.

“I’m not paying 400 dollars for a plane-ticket to Pontiac, Sammy!” Dean complains.

“I don’t care. We’re meeting this Dr. Novak sooner rather than later. If I have to drag you into that plane, I’ll do it without question.”

It feels like that’s the end of it, and it probably is. After making sure that Bobby can’t at all read the Enochian text they have as their only clue so far, they managed to book an appointment with Dr. Novak through his assistant, and just how ridiculous is that? Can’t the man just arrange his own appointments?

But, if he’s any help, Dean shouldn’t complain. Which is why he finds himself gripping the armrests of his seat slightly as he tells himself to relax. Sure, he’s flown a lot in the past, but it never gets any easier. He barely even pays any attention to his brother the entire flight, but it seems like Sam, too, has his mind wandering off far away. Good enough.

Four hours after take-off, the brothers arrive at the airport where they take the first cab to Pontiac. Dean mutters a lot about wasting a lot of money, but he’s obviously ignored by Sam.

To be fair, he feels guilty. He was going on this trip alone, and he hated the idea. Now, he can’t help but feel happy that his little brother is tagging along anyway, though he hates the current situation they are in right now. It almost looks like Dean is glad this thing with Jessica happened, which is not at all true.

Because Sam has changed. In the past few nights, he’s been having nightmares. Been more irritable. Dean wishes it just wasn’t the case, that his brother would be happy, preparing his wedding in just a few months. Maybe he even would have chosen Dean as his best man, though Dean’s not really sure he earns that position after almost four years of no contact.

It’s a long cab drive, but eventually they arrive at a large house with a gigantic black gate. Sam throws some bills at the driver before pulling his bag out of the trunk. They don’t carry a lot with them, just a few change of clothes and the usual climbing stuff. Weapons are left behind at Bobby’s, since it’s a pain to bring those along abroad.

“This guy must be rich,” Sam mutters out as he takes in the house. It looks more like a mansion, and it unsettles Dean even more so. He already hates this Novak-guy and he doesn’t even know why.

“Good for him,” Dean grunts, smashing the bell at the side of the gate. A ringing sound comes up until a voice takes its place.

“ _Novak residence, how can I help you?”_ the woman asks. Dean figures it’s that assistant Sam talked to earlier.

“Yeah, hi, it’s Sam and Dean Winchester? We have an appointment with Dr. Novak?”

“ _Oh, right! I’ll open up the gate for you. Just come in through the front door.”_

The connection breaks, and they hear a buzzing that indicates that they can open the gate. Sam gives Dean an impressed look before going through it. Dean just grumbles some inaudible words as he follows his younger brother on the pathway.

They’re greeted by a lovely young lady with brown hair and bright blue eyes. She looks about Sam’s age, also way too young to be an assistant. She should be in college.

And so should Sam. Another wave of guilt eats at Dean. He tries to shake it off.

“Good afternoon gentlemen. You can hang your coats over there, and then you can follow me to Dr. Novak’s office.”

On her nametag, Dean can quickly read ‘Hannah’. She’s wearing a grey jacket with a black pullover underneath. There’s a smile on her face that indicates that she’s rather enthusiastic about being here, much the opposite of how Dean’s feeling. He can’t even say why he’s reacting like this. Surely, this Dr. Novak can’t be that bad, can he?

The inside of the building looks much like a huge library merged with a museum. There are bookshelves everywhere, along with large biblical paintings and artifacts that should belong at an exhibition rather than the confines of somebody’s home. Dean wonders if there’s anything in there that he discovered, or maybe that his parents discovered?

Sam seems a lot more fascinated than Dean. Awe is written all over his face, and for a short second Dean feels guilty upon hating so much on something that is clearly distracting enough for Sammy that he’s no longer wallowing in his own sadness.

Hannah guides them into an office. Seated at the desk is a man with dark hair and glasses on his nose, deeply buried in a large book.

“Castiel, your visitors have arrived,” Hannah tells the man, who looks up in surprise as if he hadn’t heard them come in. Immediately he removes the glasses off his nose and stands up. By doing that, he accidentally tips his empty glass on his desk.

“I’m sorry, I was- rather gone from this world,” Dr. Novak says, straightening his jacket before reaching out his hand. Sam is the first one to shake it. Dean only does so to remain friendly. “You must be Sam and Dean Winchester, right? With the Enochian text?”

Sam is the one who nods. When Dr. Novak gestures for them to sit down, they both do. Dean takes this time to study the room around him. There’s just a whole lot more books in here, a large map of the world hanging high on the wall. There’s a large painting of Angels on Dean’s other side as well, almost making him uncomfortable looking at it.

“Yes, it’s something our mother found a few years ago, but she never got around to translate it,” Sam explains as he pulls out the notebook and hands it to Dr. Novak. The scholar takes it from him, puts his glasses back on and takes a good look at it.

“It’s Enochian indeed. Where did she find this?” he asks. It’s only now that Dean realizes how gravelly and low this man’s voice is, as if he’s been smoking all his years and put such a strain on his vocal muscles.

“Does it matter?” Dean mutters. He receives a glare from Sam.

“She found it somewhere in Prague, at the Palace. We’re actually about to head there but we thought we could first come and see you, find out if you can make any sense of this?”

Dr. Novak nods before looking back at the text.

“’For he shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways’,” the man seems to translate almost effortlessly. Dean’s eyes widen, wondering if he’s just making it up on the spot. When the man resumes in repeating the verse in Enochian, he’s about ready to just give up on this.

“Do you have any idea where this is from?” Sam asks.

“Psalm, 91:11. From the Geneva Bible,” Dr. Novak offers. Is it even possible to know that by memory? Dean frowns at the man even more than before, but the Doctor doesn’t seem to pay any attention to him. Clearly, the man has realized that he should do all of his communication with Sam, instead.

Sam turns towards his brother, tapping his chin. “So we have a verse from the Bible? In a room supposedly filled with Greek art according to Mom’s journal?” Sam thinks out loud. Dean shrugs.

“You said those Dee and Kelley-guys claimed they talked to Angels? Maybe they just really liked the verse?”

“My apologies gentlemen, Greek art?” Dr. Novak asks, leaning forward a bit on his seat. “In Prague? That would sound rather far-fetched, wouldn’t you think?”

Dean gives the man a hard look. “Are you assuming our mother doesn’t know her stuff?”

Dr. Novak seems startled by the question. “Of course not,” he quickly assures him. “I’m just merely curious as to why such an art-style would be found all the way in Prague, is all.”

Dean only raises his eyebrow at him. Sam clears his throat.

“That’s what we want to find out as well, Doctor.” The scholar’s eyes finally leave Dean’s in favor of directing them back to his younger brother. “Whatever it is, we suppose it has something to do with this symbol here.”

Sam goes back a few pages in the notebook, pointing at the symbol in question. Dean glares at his brother. He didn’t want Novak to know about this, for crying out loud! Isn’t this wat ended up biting their parents in the ass? The fact that they trusted a random librarian with details on their hunt?

The Doctor makes a thinking sound as he takes in the symbol. Dean hates the way he’s looking at it, like he’s studying it. He shouldn’t be seeing this, at all.

“You seem to have peaked my interests here, Gentlemen,” Dr. Novak tells him. “You mentioned that you are leaving for Prague today?”

“What’s it to you?” Dean huffs out.

“Dean,” Sam hisses at him before turning back to the man. “Yes, we’re leaving today.”

Dr. Novak gives Dean a long, studying look before nodding.

“Would you mind me joining in on this?” he asks. “I do not care about any treasures, but I would merely be extremely pleased with the knowledge that I would receive upon coming along.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Dean asks with a huff. Another glare comes from Sam.

“Dean, if this is a biblical thing, don’t you think it would be handy to have him tag along?” Sam counters quickly.

“We know our stuff about religion!” Dean quickly counters.

“Barely! It’s not like either of us has been going to Sunday School in the past, Dean!”

“And so what? That’s what research is for, isn’t it?”

“Research is very time-consuming, Dean! Time I don’t have!”

“So you’d rather just let a stranger tag along, risk getting us in the same position as mom and Dad 22 years ago?!”

“I believe I worded my sentence wrong, I am not really looking for permission,” Dr. Novak quickly adds in before either of them can speak. “I have my reasons to want to find out about this symbol, and it has nothing to do with treasure or riches.”

“Yeah, because people like you are often ready to say you’re loaded enough,” Dean snaps at him. Novak frowns at that.

“The circumstances of how I earned myself this house and its contents are of no matter to you, Mr. Winchester,” Novak warns him. “For years I have wondered about the origins of this symbol, and an ill-mannered wall climber isn’t the one to stop me in getting to the bottom of this.”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!” Dean shouts, standing up with his hands balled into fists. Sam jumps up as well, putting his own hand against Dean’s chest to hold him back.

“Seriously, Dean, cut it out,” he warns him.

Dean just glares further, staring Novak down and regretting the fact that the man can’t just spontaneously combust into fire with it. After that, both brothers sit back down.

“How can we be sure to trust you?” Sam then interjects eventually. Novak looks away at last, shaking his head a bit as if he’s pulled out of a trance. Dean finds himself doing the same thing. He puts a hand over his hair, wondering why he’s reacting so strongly right now?

“I’m not sure how I could make you trust me, but I promise you that my interest in this symbol are mere educational. I have knowledge over ‘most everything biblical there is to know. Yet, whenever this symbol appeared, nothing but theories seem to be made of it.”

Novak points at the drawing in the book. The mark Dean hates so badly right now.

“You don’t like not knowing something, do you?” Sam asks, a sly smirk on his face. Novak at least has the decency to look embarrassed.

“No, I do not,” he admits.

Sam just nods, the expression in his eyes clear that he’s thinking this over. Then he grabs the journal off the table and puts it inside the pocket of his jacket.

“He’s coming along,” Sam tells Dean, making clear that it’s not up to debate. Dean already opens his mouth to protest, but it’s obvious that Sam’s not going to listen to it.

Novak, meanwhile, is already calling out to his assistant to cancel all his meetings until further notice. It all happens so quickly around him that he barely has any time to say anything about it. By the time Novak has already arranged his flight, Dean feels like he has absolutely no say in this whatsoever.

No way, there’s no way that a random stranger is going to join them! Nu-uh! This is his and Sam’s quest, not Novak’s. Dean doesn’t care if he’s going to be handy with all his knowledge, he doesn’t want him tagging along!

But he just can’t speak up anymore, finding himself speechless on the matter. So he just watches how Sam and Novak load their stuff up in the car.

“Loosen up, Dean,” Sam eventually says as they’re waiting for their plane to board. Much to his chagrin, Novak managed to boost their seats up to First Class, which must have cost a fortune, though Novak didn’t want to hear anything about their protests.

“It’s the least I can do after allowing me to tag along,” he had said at that, pointedly looking at Dean. When that smirk had shown up on his face it took so much of Dean’s strength not to shove the guy against a wall.

“You know I can’t,” Dean mutters. As if the Novak situation isn’t horrible already, the combination of an upcoming flight makes matters so much worse. Thirteen and half hours isn’t really the longest Dean has been on a plane, but the added presence of a guy that seems to rile him up without any good reason really isn’t helping him.

Once seated on the plane, Sam gives Novak all they have on the case to let the man make his own conclusions on the matter. Dean mostly ignores them, distracting himself by watching a movie on the screen in front of him. Though, the plot is lame and he can’t get himself to concentrate on it, so eventually he gives that up as well.

“- were considered users of magic by the Catholic church. It’s safe to say that they weren’t popular in the eyes of the religious,” he hears Novak say.

“Then why is Enochian connected to the Angels?” Sam asks curiously.

“Because, both Dee as Kelley insisted that the language was taught to them by the Angels, that they heard them inside their heads.” Novak starts writing something down. “Kelley was the one who supposedly relayed the language to Dee. Many people obviously didn’t trust the assumed origin of this language.”

Novak then turns the paper around so it’s facing Sam.

“You see this word?” Sam leans forward but then nods. “This says ‘telocvovim’, crudely translated means ‘he who has fallen’.”

“Lucifer?” Sam tries.

“Exactly,” Novak confirms. “Linguistics manage to find out that it’s more like a Germanic-like combination of two other Enochian words, them being ‘teloch’ which means ‘death’ and ‘vovin’ which means ‘dragon’.”

“So, ‘death dragon’?” Sam asks. “Lucifer.”

“So it would seem. Only, neither Dee nor Kelley spoke of Lucifer in combination to this word in any of their writings.”

The two talk for a bit more, but Dean turns his head back to the window to take a look outside. The sky is dark, and there isn’t much to see, but yet he can’t help but stare into that darkness that is surrounding them. It’s the day of the New Moon, meaning that there’s nothing illuminating the sky other than stars. Stars he doesn’t see from where he’s seated.

“In 1583 the book ‘Liber Loagaeth’ came out, which crudely translates to ‘Book of Speech from God’.”

“Like a bible?”

“Not exactly. At least the church doesn’t recognize it as such. The book consists of 49 great letter tables. They are in a form of squares, made of 49 by 49 letters. Conveniently, Dee and Kelley insisted that the Angels never translated the texts in this book.”

“So nobody could read it?”

Damn that Sam with his continuous questions. Dean shouldn’t be surprised that his baby brother is finding himself enthralled by everything the Doctor is saying.

“Not at the time. They could about a year later, as they put together another set of Enochian texts in Krakow. These texts came with English translations at last.”

“And through these translations, people started understanding the Enochian language?” Sam nods while he listens to the man talk. Dean can’t tune it out even if he tries, because despite it all he finds himself interested enough in finding out just how these two individuals weren’t just batshit crazy back in the day.

“Yes. The text existed out of 48 poetic verses called ‘Angelic Keys’, and Dee intended to use these to open the ’49 gates of Wisdom’.”

“The squares from the Liber Loagaeth,” Sam manages to deduce. Novak nods in agreement, a smile appearing on his face. “How do you know all of this?”

Amusement shows on Novak’s face, and it makes something lurch inside of Dean. He doesn’t like this guy, at all, and the fact that he’s using his wisdom to befriend his little brother is just enough to make him want to smash his face against the window.

“It’s what I studied for all my life,” Novak admits. “I’ve watched this language for years, making it my own.”

“Do you understand all of it?”

Novak’s face looks distant for a second, like the question is triggering something inside of him. For a moment, Dean is wondering what it could be, before he decides that he just doesn’t care.

“It’s impossible to understand all of it. There are still thousands of undefined words in the Liber Loagaeth.”

That seems to be the end of it, as Novak leans back in his seat and turns to look outside as well. Seated in front of Dean, he takes a moment to take a good look at him at last. Novak’s about Dean’s age, it seems. Rather young for all the knowledge he contains, one would say. Most people study for forty years to probably get where he is, yet…

Novak has wild brown hair that seemed to be neater when they first arrived at his house. Now it’s sticking up everywhere, clearly in need of a haircut soon. His eyes are a dark blue, sometimes almost appearing black depending on the lighting around them. He has some dark bags under his eyes, as if he hasn’t been sleeping well in the past few days. There’s a scruff on his chin, like he hasn’t bothered to shave in the morning. Dean can understand that sentiment, resisting the urge to touch his own fuzz.

“Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Winchester?” suddenly comes out. Dean startles upon hearing his name called out. He finds that Novak’s dark eyes are rested on his. He wonders how long he’s been looking at him.

“Nah, I’m good,” he mutters back, holding up his hand in a dismissive gesture. He forces his gaze to go elsewhere, mainly his brother Sam who is using Novak’s notes to make an attempt at translating the text.

“You do not seem to trust me all that much,” Novak suddenly states. Dean rolls his eyes.

“I wonder what gave you that idea?” he asks. The only thing he’s wondering, though, is why he can’t find any reason to dislike this man so much even before speaking to him.

“I do not mean you nor your brother any harm, Dean. I am merely here to find out the truth about this symbol as well.”

Dean blinks up at the Doctor, trying to study him in his posture. Nothing indicates that he’s lying, but Dean’s been cheated before by bastards who mastered the skill of acting.

“This symbol means something to you, as well, doesn’t it?” Novak suddenly asks. Dean squints his eyes together.

“How about this; I let you tag along, and you don’t ask questions about my interests in this case. How ‘bout that?”

Dean turns his head once more, bringing up the screen once again and starting up another movie with the headphones he received from the hostess on his ears. It’s enough an indication that he’s not open for any more conversation.

The flight lasts an eternity. Dean spends most of it moping (no he doesn’t!), sleeping or researching through the journal he’s been reading over and over again. He never learns anything new, obviously, but at least now he’s extra super sure about which room they need to go to in the Palace before they start searching for secret levers.

Dean is about ready to jump out of the plane by the time it finally lands at the airport (and he DID NOT whimper when the plane touched the ground, he sneezed!) but managed to wait until most of the people had already stepped out. Sam is yawning most of the time. Novak remains quiet.

“Let’s just get our bags,” Dean eventually says when the three of them have finally arrived into the hall. The other two wordlessly agree, and together they make their way to luggage pick-up.

It’s going to be a long trip. Dean just hopes that, whatever they’ll find in the end, it’ll be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warning:  
> \- Comatose characters  
> \- desperate Sam  
> \- shameless use of actual historical figures and accomodate them to the story so that it fits  
> \- THIS STORY IS ONLY BASED ON FACTS TO A POINT (because after a while nothing started to make sense anymore when I kept on trying to link it to real time things, so eventually I switched to complete fiction with it)


	4. The Greek in Prague

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam has agreed to join Dean on the hunt for the symbol, hoping that the treasure they'll find will cover the hospital bills he'll receive for Jessica's treatment. They visited Dr. Castiel Novak, expert on the Enochian language, who insisted on coming along with them. But, it doesn't seem like Dean can really stand him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I was a genius and could write epic puzzles. Sadly, I am not and this will have to do! I hope it doesn't disappoint too much. 
> 
> Chapter warnings: none for this chapter

 

 

It’s an insane amount of money to just be allowed inside the old Palace. Dean supposes the only good thing about Novak joining them on the trip is the fact that the man keeps on insisting on paying for everything. Surely, the guy is loaded enough for it.

After dropping most of their stuff in a motel room – they decided to squeeze together in one room after making sure that there’s a fold-out couch they could use as a third bed. Afterwards, Dean and Sam both collect their flashlights, notebooks and pens. Weapons aren’t things they brought along, and Dean’s sure that they won’t be allowed inside holding a pocket knife, so they decide to just go without anything – not that there’s much of a choice there, obviously.

There’s quite an amount of people as they enter the building. Guided tours are being held in multiple languages. People take pictures, others pose with wide smiles on their faces. Dean resists rolling his eyes at them – they just don’t know any better, really.

“You know where we need to go?” Sam asks and Dean nods.

“Yeah, I marked it on the map,” Dean says, pointing towards the folded paper he got as soon as they got their tickets. They don’t exactly expect on being able to open any doors right away, but they can always just try doing so. “The room we need to get to is ‘no visitor’s allowed’, so I’m not too worried about being disturbed as we search.”

“Aren’t we going to get in trouble for that?” Novak asks.

That’s another thing they haven’t got going for them; this is about literally Novak’s first time on the field. When it comes to the matter of climbing and risking his life a little bit, the guy has about zero experience. Dean shouldn’t be too surprised if he can’t even hold a gun properly.

“We most certainly are if we aren’t careful,” he mutters. “There’s cameras everywhere, but we just have to wait for the moment it’s turned away from us.” Dean nods towards the device above them, making regular turns as it scans the entire room. Dean observes it for a long time before grabbing the doorknob and opening it. He hisses at Sam to get through, which he does quickly. After that, Dean closes the door again and marches up to Novak.

“You just listen to everything I’m saying and we won’t get in trouble,” he reminds him. Novak just gives him a glare, but he doesn’t seem to disagree. “We didn’t have enough time to get the three of us through, but I think we’ll have enough for the both of us. Just stay close to me.”

Novak stays behind Dean, who is about ready to snatch the doorknob again until he freezes on the spot. Noises; people heading their way. He glances back at the camera. By the time they’re out of sight, the group has reached this room.

He pulls on Novak’s arm, getting them away from the door and closer to what seems like a gigantic painting of the Rudolf II. At least it’s not the one where he’s made of fruit, because seeing that one in real life would be really nightmare inducing.

“What are you doing, Mr. Winchester?” Novak hisses at him, clearly confused as to why they’re suddenly pulled away from the door.

“Just pretend you’re reading the plate in front of you,” Dean instructs him. Novak doesn’t hesitate, lowering his head at an acceptable position while Dean takes out his photo camera, aiming it at the painting.

The group behind them arrives, from their guide it’s obvious that it’s a Chinese group. Dean barely turns around, just suddenly grabs Novak’s arm again and starts poking it.

“Steve, c’mon, go stand in front of that painting! I’mma take a picture!”

Novak frowns once again upon hearing the weird name, but luckily he goes along. Of course, Dean’s not too surprised that the guy is completely incapable of looking happy in front of the camera.

“C’mon, one little smile, buddy,” Dean urges on, feeling some of the tourists’ eyes on his back. It’s rather hilarious when Novak forces the corners of his lips up, not really smiling but at least not looking like his cat just died.

Dean convinces him to take one of him as well as they wait for the group to head out again. By the time they do Dean was out of ideas of distraction, which is at least something they’ve got going for them. His eyes once again glancing at the camera above them.

He barely notices grabbing Novak’s arm again. He just pulls them along by the time they’re safe, and quickly he closes the door behind them. In the other room, he finds Sam turning around.

“Jesus, guys, what took you so long? It’s been almost ten minutes!”

Dean waves him off with an annoyed grunt, letting go of Novak to get to the middle of the room. It looks like just another part of the Palace, but for some reason this one has been closed off.

“Any idea why nobody’s allowed in here?” he asks. He doesn’t pay any attention to Novak, who is straightening his tie. Who even wears a tie on a treasure hunt?

“I wasn’t sure at first, but I suspect it’s got something to do with Azazel,” Sam mutters out. “See this? I found this on the desk, it’s some sort of letter.”

“What does it say?” Novak asks.

“Just that the Palace was forced to close down this area of the building, for archeological research. That was twenty-two years ago.”

Dean whistles out. “Man, twenty-two years later and they still haven’t found anything? Guy’s not as good as he pretends to be,” he jokes.

“Yeah, well, joke all you want, but I’m actually wondering why this letter was left here on this desk,” Sam points out. And that actually makes sense. Dean watches his brother pick up the page and turn it around. Just a small flash of black passes in his eyesight, and it’s enough to make Dean wonder if there’s something on the back.

Sam’s eyes widen immediately before squinting again.

“Look at this,” Sam mutters.

“What is it?” Dean asks. He takes the paper from his brother’s hand while Novak puts on his glasses to take a look as well.

“Another symbol, though a different one this time.” Dean looks at the black drawing on the back of the letter and finds that, indeed, something is drawn there.

"I recognize the drux in it, which is the Enochian equivalent for the letter 'n' . And it resembles the previous symbol as well,” Novak says, taking the page from Dean’s hands, which earns him a glare from the man. Novak seems to ignore it, though.

Besides, the Doc makes a good point. It looks like they’ve got another moon shape, a half circle in front of it with what seems to look like a wing.

“Any idea what it means?” Sam tries.

“Haven’t got the slightest idea,” Novak confesses. “Though, these letters are quite easy to decipher.”

On the bottom of the page are two more symbols – or at least symbols to Dean’s eyes. The fact that Novak says it’s letters makes Dean figure it must be Enochian.

“J.W.,” he translates. “I don’t understand, what does that mean?”                           

Sam chuckles and Dean snatches the paper away again.

“John Winchester. Our Dad was here,” Sam explains to the scholar. Novak, in turn, makes an understanding sound.

“So I suspect he left this message here for you?”

“Looks like,” Dean grunts. The symbol now branded in his mind, he starts looking around. There’s no way John would just draw a random symbol without it having any meaning, right? His hand passes over the multiple books that are around here, but so far nothing familiar seems to come in view.

“Here’s that symbol,” Sam suddenly says, catching Dean’s attention immediately. The older Winchester jumps up to where his brother is, coming to stand in front of a painting that for once doesn’t seem to contain a member of the Royal Family.

“Angels,” Novak points out the obvious. Dean bites his lip to hold back his sarcastic comment.

“Any idea which one?” Sam tries. The image in front of them contains, indeed, an Angel. It’s quite detailed, though clearly suffering from aging. The Angel in the center of the painting is half naked as they usually are, only a drape covering her left breast and her lower body. Her right hand is holding out to a person on that side, while her other hand seems to point the other direction. On that side, another person seems to be begging for his life. On the stone the Angel is standing, the new symbol is drawn, though barely noticeable. Dean is rather impressed Sam noticed it in the first place.

“I suspect Cassiel,” Novak says.

“I’m sorry, Castiel?” Dean asks, wondering if he heard it right. Is this douchebag actually named after an Angel?

“No, Cassiel, though in the different religions they’ve had different names.” Castiel points towards the nameplate underneath the painting, which contains the name of the artist. The name doesn’t seem familiar in the slightest.

“That’s one of the Archangels, right?” Sam tries, because of course he knows about that. Novak makes a ‘give or take’ movement with his hand.

“They’re often portrayed as one of the Seven Archangels, indeed, but in some lore they’re just a common Angel. They appear in Jewish, Christian and Islamic lore, though their names are often changed to Qaphsiel, Qafsiel, Qaspiel, Kaziel and many more.”

“You know a lot about this,” Sam points out. Novak shrugs.

“One tends to know a lot about the Angel they were named after,” Novak points out.

“Well, got any idea what this painting means?” Dean crosses his arms while leaning against the wall. Novak studies the painting more but nods in understanding.

“In the Jewish mythical literature Cassiel is the guardian of the seventh Heaven which was considered the holiest of all the heavens due to the fact that that was where God’s throne was.” Novak points towards the person the Angel is holding her hand out for. “Cassiel was assigned to decide who was allowed inside and who wasn’t. As you can see here, this person here is invited inside, while the other one is refused.”

Novak’s finger points towards the other person that is begging for his life.

“Whenever a king would die, Cassiel would also be assigned the case, though lore also says that Cassiel pays extra attention to the people that are easily overlooked. Cassiel takes care of them when they’re in a weakened state.”

“That Cassiel sounds like a swell gal, but how is this helping us in any way?” Dean asks. Novak give shim a dry look.

“I do not know yet, Mr. Winchester,” the Doc snaps back, and Dean finds himself impressed at the sudden fire thrown at him.

“So something in this painting is the key to our next clue?” Sam asks, inspecting the painting carefully before letting his fingers pass over the detailed wooden frame. “Cassiel is pointing at something, maybe that’s it?”

Novak shakes his head, making Dean snatch away his eyes from him. Right, they’re on a case. Stop hating on the guy and actually use his knowledge, Winchester!

“That wouldn’t seem right, where Cassiel is pointing is where people are refused inside. Their other hand, though, could be a clue, perhaps?”

Sam follows his word and turns to the left side of the painting. He tries pressing some random points on the frame, but it doesn’t seem to help anything.

“Maybe it’s not on the painting or the frame?” Dean suggests. Sam and Novak turn around to look at him in confusion. Dean just shrugs. “Think of it, the painting is easy to remove, so if it suddenly _isn’t_ , it would be too obvious that a secret button is present. Maybe the painting is indeed pointing out something, but it’s outside of the painting?”

“But then the painting would still be easily removed, wouldn’t it?” Novak questions.

“Yeah, sure, but after finding that there’s no secret lever behind the canvas, people would just put it back in search of other clues,” Dean points out. He gently pushes his little brother out of the way. “If you leave it lying around, you could miss anything else important, after all.”

Dean kneels down with both hands on the wall. The floor looks creepy enough, containing the faces of Angels towards the edge where it meets the wall. Dean takes a look at every single Angel, finding each one scarier than the other.

“Gotcha,” Dean mutters out when he notices that one specific Angel looks creepier than the others. Its halo on top of its head looks worn down, even more than those of his companions. With a finger, he presses against the inner circle of it, finding that it comes along.

There’s a click, and then the sound of a door opening. A quick loop up makes him realize that one of the bookshelves has disappeared into the wall, making space for a pathway of darkness.

“You did it,” Sam mutters out in excitement. He storms through the opening without thinking about it, leaving Dean and Novak behind. Dean can’t help but smile upon seeing his brother like this, like he has hope once again.

“That was very impressive, Mr. Winchester,” Novak suddenly says next to him, and Dean freezes again, happiness disappearing slightly.

“Right,” Dean mutters. He gets back on his feet, snatching his flashlight from his backpack before heading inside as well. He’s glad that Novak isn’t trying to talk to him more. Instead, the man takes out his own flashlight – a cheap looking thing that probably isn’t going to last too long – and follows Dean inside.

They find themselves in a tunnel that quickly brings them to a whole other part of the palace. It’s clearly been a while since anybody has been here. Probably for centuries. There’s dust everywhere, multiple books that look like they’ll break apart if you try to open them.

“What do you think?” Dean asks his brother.

“Looks like renaissance to me. Older than all the other stuff in this Palace,” Sam utters out. “Dean, I don’t think anybody’s been here in centuries.”

“Aside from mom and dad,” Dean points out. Sam shrugs.

“Aside from them,” he agrees. He passes his light over an old statue, finding white marble in front of him covered in dust. Dean watches from a distance, nodding towards the sculpture.

“That Cassiel?” he asks, taking in the female form. She has a halo over her, along with two wings on her back, though they are not spread out to take as little space as possible. Novak walks up to the statue, passing his hand over it.

“She does bare resemblances to the Cassiel on the painting, but there’s no way of knowing for sure,” he answers. “I am not familiar with the art style, I can’t place an artist on this.”

“Just like the painting,” Sam mumbles. Quickly he grabs Dean’s camera out of his bag and snatches a few quick pictures of it. He does it all so quickly Novak doesn’t even have time to get out of the shot. “We can make comparisons afterwards. First we need to figure out how to move forward.”

Dean nods, and the three of them search on for anything that bares any of the symbols they’ve already encountered. Dean would almost expect the second mark to come back up, but he’s surprised when it’s Novak that calls out for them, pointing at a book with the original one on it. In contrary to the rest of the books, this one has recently been touched due to the fact that there’s a lot less dust on it.

“Well, what are you waiting for, pull it,” Dean urges on. Novak ignores his insistence, reaching out for the book and pulling at it. Instantly, another click is heard and once more the wall disappears inside itself.

“A secret passage _inside_ a secret passage? They really were trying to keep people out of this,” Sam mumbles. He gives a look at his companions. “Shall we?”

Dean nods. Novak nods as well. The three exit the hidden room to get to the secret pathway, this time not finding another room behind it. The pathway goes on, seemingly endless, but they know they keep on going the right way when they come across more and more of the mark. The original mark.

The idea that, soon enough, he’ll know what the mark stands for… it’s keeping him motivated. Enough to make him even forget about Novak joining them. Because this is what his parents were trying to figure out for so long. This is why his Dad left them again. To find out the secret.

“Any chance Dad’s still in here somewhere?” Dean tries out. Sam chuckles.

“I sure hope not, there’s not exactly a mall around there to fill up your food supply, after all.”

“That’s also true,” Dean snorts in return. They move along until they get to a crossing, both of them with parts of the symbol on the wall. The one on Dean’s side has the moon on the right, while the one on Novak’s side holds the other moon, the one with the ‘wings’.

“I suggest we split up,” Dean offers.

“What? Dean, no!” Sam quickly counters. Dean shakes his head and holds up his hand.

“You wanted to get answers as quickly as possible. This is the best way to do that. I go over there, take pictures so the doc can maybe translate whatever I come across, while you two head that direction.”

“We can’t take pictures, we only have one camera,” Sam counters.

“Use your cellphone. I know it’s not the best quality in the world, but it’s better than nothing. Also, take the journal and write down whatever you see.”

Sam gives him a long look before sighing. He eventually holds out his hand to take the journal from his brother before nodding towards Novak to follow him.

“You know which frequency?” Sam asks. Dean nods, tapping the talkie attached to his belt.

“Yup, don’t worry,” he returns. He punches his brother on the arm before heading down into the right hallway. Each time he comes across the moon-shaped symbol, he passes his fingers over it. He finds himself into some sort of trance, because he’s got no idea how much time passed until he nearly bumps into what seems to be the end of the hallway. A large door is standing there, with obvious scorch marks on it, yet seemingly no cracks in the stone.

“ _Dean, come in,”_ he hears from his belt. Dean picks up the device and puts it to his ear.

“I found something. A large door. Looks like there have been some explosives here.”

“ _Yeah, here, too. You managed to open yours?”_

Dean taps the door curiously, searching around for any kind of lever or anything that he needs to do to open it, but since somebody’s obviously tried to force the door open by heavy blasts, it seems like Azazel’s men didn’t succeed, either.

“No, I don’t think it can,” Dean mutters. “Looks like a lot of firepower came down here, yet not even a scratch on the door.”

“ _Well, we opened ours. Keep finding a way in, we’ll take the pictures and join you afterwards.”_

“Copy that.” Dean puts down the device and observes the door for a little bit more. At first, he simply tries to press his shoulder against it and push really hard. It’s wishful thinking, obviously, but he can’t really come up with anything else.

When that doesn’t work, he studies every stone around him, pressing against each and every one of them with a careful touch, though still never managing to get anything to trigger it open.

He supposes more time has passed when he hears a pair of heavy breaths heading his way. Turning around, he finds Sam and Novak jogging up to him.

“What’cha got?” Dean asks, leaning against the door in an attempt to catch his breath.

“Another verse from the Psalm. ‘There shall none evil come unto thee, neither shall any plague come near thy tabernacle’. It’s from the same verse, just one sentence earlier.”

Dean frowns. So they’ve got two parts of a biblical text, the one following after the other. Somehow, it doesn’t seem to have any meaning, really, until Sam pulls out the journal and shows it to Dean.

“Angels,” Sam says, pointing towards the first verse. “Enochian, the statue, the paintings… it’s all about Angels.”

“C’mon, Sammy, you know Angels don’t exist? This isn’t some Dan Brown shit about Bernini.”

“But Dean, look at this.”

Sam holds out his phone for Dean to take. On the screen he sees the few crappy pictures his brother must have taken.

They look much like Ancient Greek drawings, though for some reason they still look quite good, as if they have only been made a few centuries ago rather than a thousand years. Dean flips through them, finding one figure appearing again and again.

“Is there a story these are telling?” Dean asks. Looking at them over phone makes it a little bit difficult to see it clearly.

“Yeah, that’s Cassiel again,” Sam says, pointing at the Angel shown on the screen. Then he turns towards the Doc. “Castiel?”

“Yes” Novak responds. “In the first few drawings we see Cassiel like we did in the painting. Allowing people in, refusing others.”

He moves along to the next picture where Dean recognizes that same angel standing next to a king lying in a bed.

“They’re watching over the death of kings,” Novak continues to explain before moving along to the next one. “Paying attention to those overlooked, orphans, enslaved, the poor…”

With that, four more pictures have passed.

Until Novak gets to the seventh photo on the phone. Dean frowns, looking nearer. He recognizes those two orphans from a few pictures earlier.

“What’s she doin’?” Dean asks.

“ _They’re_ paying special attention to the orphans,” Novak says dryly. Dean rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, I caught that. But why did they show the orphans again? Weren’t they shown a few pics ago?”

“Yes, but it’ll be explained soon enough,” Sam assures him. “Just, listen, okay?”

Dean grunts but keeps quiet after that while Novak keeps on going. There’s Cassiel with the two orphans, and in the next one the orphans are grown up. Then there seems to be Cassiel talking to the eldest of the two brothers, until in the following one the two appear to be kissing.

“No way,” Dean mutters out. “The Angel fell in love with a human?”

“Looks like it,” Sam answers. “After they got together, it seems like Cassiel hid away, pretending to be human.”

“And after that?”

Sam shakes his head. “Nothing. The pictures ended there.”

Novak pulls the phone away and Dean just grunts.

“It can’t end there? Nobody can make me believe that those two got a happy ending just like that?” Dean crosses his arms before looking back at the door. “I guess the rest of the story is explained in here, maybe? If you found the first part of the verse in that room, the one in Mom’s journal is probably inside this one.”

“Too bad they didn’t take pictures,” Sam mutters. Dean frowns again, putting a hand on the stone. What’s the key to open this thing up? He knocks on it twice before turning around.

“Better butt our heads together if we want to find out how to get in there,” Dean says. “How did you open it?”

Both Sam and Novak shrug. “No idea, I just touched the stone and suddenly there was movement in the door,” Sam says. “Want me to try as well?”

Sam reaches out his hand before Dean can answer, but when his fingers make contact with it nothing seems to happen. Dean lets out the breath he’d been holding, disappointment going through him despite the fact that he should have known better.

“Looks like that’s a bust as well.” The three men take a step backwards simultaneously. Ideas seem to come up short, especially given the fact that attempts at blowing up the place seems to have been futile in the past. How is that even possible?

“Maybe…” Novak starts, grabbing the journal again opening it to where the verse is written. “Maybe this is our clue?”

“Ya think?” Dean counters. Novak ignores him.

“Among those books, I’m certain there were a few versions of the bible as well. Perhaps if we look up the Psalm to these two specific verses, we might come across anything of interest?”

Sam and Dean give each other a look. It sucks to admit it, but Novak is making a very good point. Dean sighs before shrugging.

“Alright, lets raid that library,” he agrees. The three don’t hesitate much longer. They go on their way, heading back through the hallway towards the hidden room that they’d found earlier. Entering the room, Dean stops in his tracks, eyes suddenly catching the statue from earlier. He’s aware that Sam and Novak are already on the search for a bible, but Dean finds himself unable to move.

Because his eyes are stuck into the Angel’s lifeless ones. The stone she’s made out of white, seemingly priceless. Unaware of what he’s doing, Dean reaches out a hand to touch the Angel’s face. A shiver passes through him the moment his fingers make contact.

The Angel looks like she does on the painting, only dressed in some light drapes, one breast revealed while the rest of her body is barely covered. Her hands are outstretched, as if she’s reaching out for him. It’s indescribable, the way this statue is calling to him so loudly.

There’s something in her face, in the shape of it. Something familiar. Dean can’t place it.

“Hey, Dean, quit ogglin’ the statue and come here, we found something,” Sam calls out. Dean startles, his hand letting go of the Angel’s. He can’t even remember holding on to it. Quickly, he turns towards his brother and the doctor.

“Whatcha got?” he asks. Sam is holding an old book into his hand, pages looking fragile and aged.

“Well here we have the verse,” Sam points towards the words. “And here we have little words written in between.”

Dean squints, trying to read whatever it says. “It’s Enochian,” he states.

“Yes,” Novak answers. “It says: Revelation 8.”

“Great, more of this crap?”

Neither of them can answer when they hear some shouting in the back. People making scared noises, others throwing orders at each other. Dean huffs out a breath while Sam hides the book away in his jacket.

“Looks like we’ve got company,” Dean mutters.

And they didn’t bring any of their guns...   


	5. Relevation 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three have travelled to Prague where they ended up at a secret passage in the Palace thanks to a message left behind by John Winchester. They split up and found two large doors, and while Sam and Cas were successful in opening theirs, Dean didn't have much luck. All clues lead to one part in the bible: Revelation 8.  
> After that they realized that they were followed by Jaune's men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if people are enjoying this story, but I love writing it either way. I can't help but thank my best friend Caspinn once again with the love and support she's given the story, despite not even shipping Destiel.

The first thing Dean thinks of doing is close up the hidden door before following his brother and the doctor to the previous room, where they do the same thing and snatch the letter off the desk. Dean crumbles it together before throwing it into the trashcan. Quickly he throws down a lit match on it.

Making it catch fire would have been easier with any form of fuel, but the paper burns up easily enough. At least they won’t leave that clue behind.

After that they each take cover against the wall. There’s nothing much to do but to wait until somebody gets to them. At least then they can try to pry their guns away from them. Dean holds his thumb up to his brother, who nods in confirmation. They’re ready for it.

When his eyes pass over Novak’s form he realizes extremely suddenly that the guy probably has no clue how to perform in hand-to-hand combat. He’s about to tell him to stay back and let them do the work until a person appears from the doorway. Before Sam or Dean can even react, Novak has grabbed him by the arm and smashes him against the wall, causing the man to grunt in pain. Though, not that easily taken down, Novak gets himself a punch in the face. It doesn’t seem to hold him back for too long as he’s fighting back with obvious ease.

Dean would help him, but the sudden appearance of two more of Azazel’s men make him rethink that. Both he and Sam get in action as well, using their hands and feet and, occasionally, their heads (which always hurts a lot more than it should but it’s always a last-minute solution). Dean startles when there’s suddenly the sound of gunshots near them. The person that was fighting against him suddenly drops down on the ground, screaming in pain as he holds on to his leg.

“Stay down or the next one will be in a place you really don’t want a bullet in,” Novak warns him dangerously, keeping his guy’s gun in his hands. The man he’d fought against lies on the ground, unconscious, while Sam’s seems obviously frozen in fear.

When Novak eventually turns to smile at Dean, he can’t even find it in himself to be grateful.

“Are you insane?! You could have hit me!” he shouts, giving Novak a shove. The doctor, whose smile disappears immediately, seems confused.

“I don’t understand, I helped you take down your attacker?” he asks. Dean is fuming. Had the guy not seen how close the two had been? A little bit more to the right and he would have hit Dean instead!

“Guys, seriously? Hate on each other when we’re not under attack!” Sam calls out. He steals his guy’s gun, aims it towards him and makes a signal that he needs to kneel down on the ground. “How many of you are there?” he asks.

The guy, who seems like he doesn’t really want to be here to begin with, gives in pretty easily. “About fifty. We’ve evacuated the Palace.”

“You work with Jaune?” Dean asks, deciding to forget about Novak for now. He’s all too aware of the glares he’s receiving, which he’s happy to ignore.

“Y-yes,” the guy stammers out with his hands raised. “He doesn’t want you Winchesters on his property.”

Dean starts laughing, and so does Sam. Then, the younger Winchester hits him on the head with the gun, and once the guy drops down on the ground he nods towards the door. “His property, my ass,” Sam mutters.

Dean finds himself a bit amused at Sam’s reaction. It’s been so long since they’ve actually spent time together, and Dean is extremely happy that they can at least do what they’re great at. Searching clues. Finding treasures. Only this time, without their father by their sides, guiding them in the right direction.

“We should get out of here,” Dean offers and the others nod. With guns raised, they head into the final hidden room.

It’s a matter of hide and seek, really. With Azazel’s men stationed around the entire palace, there’s only a few in each room. They take them down slowly, often hiding their unconscious bodies underneath desks or in closets. For a full ten minutes they manage it well enough until somebody suddenly clears their throat behind him.

Dean turns around, heart making a quick, strange reaction when he sees one of Jaune’s men holding Novak at gunpoint. Novak has his arms raised in surrender, his dark eyes glued to the gun.  

“Drop your weapons,” the guy says. The shiver in his voice is enough for them to know he’s untrained. Or, at least, not as trained as the brothers. But before Sam or Dean could do anything, Novak grabs the hand holding the gun and pulls it forward, causing for the guy to lose his footing. In the action, a stray bullet gets shot. Dean moves fast, punching the guy in the face as Novak seizes the gun from him.

“Well, we lost the element of surprise now,” Sam points out. Novak empties the gun and takes the bullets for his own while the three think about their next move.

“If we go out there, we might get caught,” Novak points out.

“So will we if we stay here,” Dean counters in annoyance. He can already hear Azazel’s people nearing on their position. He watches his brother near the window.

“We might try escape through the window,” Sam suggests. The words are barely out of his mouth when the door gets blown out. They’re clearly not worried about collateral damage of a historical piece of property.

“Looks like we got no choice,” Dean mutters, sprinting towards the window and realizing his mistake immediately. He has no idea what’s awaiting him on the other side of the glass, so when his body breaks it through he flies midair for a bit until he lands on a van with a grunt. An alarm goes off underneath him, the roof of the vehicle dented by his weight. He’s full of cuts, blood seeping out of the wounds. Looking at his brother, he finds that Sam isn’t that better off.

“You okay?” he asks breathily. He hates it when his little brother is hurt. At least they weren’t too high up, though they did destroy a window.

“We need to get out of here, now,” Sam urges on. He gets on his feet, helping Novak up when he stumbles forward. With Dean taking most of the glass, the guy barely has any cuts on him.

“Yeah, well, I doubt we can go through the entrance,” Dean returns. He takes a quick look at the supposed ‘village’ around them, though he as much as the others know nobody actually lives in here. He nods towards the side, indicating for the others to follow him. He ignores the stabbing pain in his side even though there’s some blood appearing on his fingers when he touches it. It isn’t agonizing so it’s probably not that bad.

There’s a lot of pushing people aside as they try to get away, but that in turn means that they’re being slowed down by the jerks that don’t seem to catch a hint. One would think that ‘get out of the way’ means that people should get out of the way, no?

“Dean, we lost Dr. Novak!”

Oh, this day just keeps on getting better and better.

“God fucking shit crap damnit,” Dean mutters under his breath. Of all the luck they could have. Dean stops in his track as he searches around in the crowd, yet not finding any familiar sight around him.

They can’t stay here much longer. Dean knows it, and he’s sure Sam knows it, too. Dean starts to make a run for it.

He shouldn’t have expected this trip to be smooth sailing all the time. Meg’s arrival a few days back should have been indication enough that there’s no way Azazel will just let them do as they please.

“Hold it right there, Dean-o.”

Fuck, fuckedy fucker fuck.

Dean stops in his tracks. The voice is familiar and it annoys him endlessly already.

“Meg,” Dean says as he turns around. The moment he notices the gun pointed at him he lifts his hands up in the air. She gestures towards the gun he’s still holding, making an indication that he needs to drop it, which he does.

“Seems like you really should have taken my proposal,” Meg says. She nods towards two of her men, who quickly pick up Dean and Sam’s gun from the ground. Two others grab their arms and pull it behind their backs to start tying them up.

“Yeah, you know, I don’t really like working for assholes who kill innocent women and all,” Dean returns jokingly. Meg keeps up that smirk, making Dean grit his teeth together. Where-ever that damn Novak is, he better be ready to help them out of this mess.

“My, my, that mouth of yours,” Meg jokes. She walks up to him, putting a hand against his cheek which she gently caresses. It disturbs him endlessly. “At least you’re pretty.”

It’s taking all of Dean to stop himself for biting at her hand. When he’s pushed onto the ground she lowers her hand until she’s shrugged his jacket off his shoulder. Then, that hand rests onto his shoulder, making Dean shudder.

He hates it when people touch his shoulder. And when she guides her fingers underneath the fabric of his shirt, he shudders.

“I know it’s not the treasure you want,” Meg whispers at him as she gently rubs his shoulder. Before she says anything else, she lets go of him with a hard shove and heads towards Sam instead.

“And your brother, hmmmm, such a handsome giant.” Sam turns his face away from him when she nears him. Dean watches as she searches through his brother’s jacket. Once she comes out with their mother’s journal Dean holds back the urge to curse. How did she even know Sam has it?

It’s at least a little bit lucky when he realizes that Novak still has Sam’s phone. That way, they don’t have the pictures.

Meg steps away while looking into the booklet. It’s at least something that much hasn’t been written in it yet, but there’s still the Enochian verse their mother put down, from that one room they haven’t been able to get in to.

“My, now I understand why you would involve Clarence,” Meg returns. When she notices the weird look from Dean she rolls her eyes. “The Theologist, linguist, whatever you want to call it. The one you dragged along on this little adventure of yours.”

“Castiel?” Sam asks.

“Where is our little Angel, anyway?”

Good, great, that means they don’t have him. Now that bastard better be trying to get them out of this shit.

“Taken by one of your guys,” Dean lies. Meg raises an eyebrow, putting her hands on her hips as she looks him down. “They better not harm him ‘cause we need the bastard.”

“Right,” she mutters, lowering her head to speak to who-ever she’s got on her comm. Before she can speak, though, the sound of tires comes up, tourists shouting in panic. The two men that have finally finished tying the brothers up take a step backwards.

It all happens in a matter of seconds. One moment, Meg was still pretending to be in control of the situation, the other a black security van appears out of nowhere, nearly driving her off the road. When the windows go down, Novak’s face comes up.

 

“Get in,” he hisses at them as he opens the door. It’s going to be a tight fit, but they’ll make it work. Sam is the first one to get on his feet, throwing himself into the car. Sam banishes himself into the back immediately, giving Dean the space to get in as well.

Before Dean gets up, he reaches towards Meg, who is still holding the journal. With his teeth, he grabs it out of her hands before he gets into a sprint. The woman can’t even react. As he stumbles inside the car, he uses his foot to close the door as much as possible, though with tied hands there’s nothing much he can do about that.

“Hold on to something,” Novak tells them as he smashes that accelerator. After that, they drive away from the palace.

Dean hisses as Sam’s antiseptic tissue touches one of the many cuts he has on his chest. He’s sitting on a chair, holding a bottle of scotch in his hand. The bleeding wound on his lower abdomen has just been stitched back up by his little brother. Sam’s already taken care of. Novak barely needed any first aid, which is why he’s the one out on a food run.

“What did she mean about this deal?” Sam asks after he’s finished with the last wound. Dean grunts in annoyance while he puts his shirt back on.

“She approached me a while back, offered me a deal to work with Azazel to find this ‘treasure’ he wants,” Dean says before taking another swing. He hisses as the burn of the drink hits his mouth. “Told her to go screw herself, obviously.”

Sam huffs out a breath. “You could have told me,” he mutters back.

“Well, I’m sorry, Sam. I kinda forgot to mention that little fact after hearing your girlfriend ended up in a coma!” Dean snaps in return. Sam flinches at the words and Dean ends up leaning his elbows on his legs while rubbing his face. “Fuck, sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that.”

Sam bites his lips together with obvious pain in his eyes. For that moment, Dean hates himself for snapping at his brother like this. He’s about to apologize again when Sam’s phone suddenly starts ringing.

“It’s Bobby,” he mutters. Without giving his brother another look, the younger Winchester heads out of their motel room, leaving Dean behind alone.

They lost the security van. Dean still has no idea how they managed to get away from the palace without being stopped by security, but so it turns out having a car of the organization probably helped. Dean sighs while he gets up on his feet. Heading towards the nightstand, he takes out the little bible that seems to be standard addition to each room he’s ever stayed at. Once he opens it, he curses upon realizing that it’s all in Czech. At least there’s the laptop, but that idiot Sam put a password on it and Dean hasn’t yet managed to unlock it.

As if on cue, the door opens revealing Novak entering the motel room. He’s holding two white bags in his hands, heavily smelling of delicious food.

“Are those burgers?” Dean asks. The Doc nods and gives Dean a faint smile. “Well, at least your taste in food doesn’t suck.”

That wipes the smile off his face once again, and Novak rolls his eyes as he puts the food down.

“I saw your brother outside on the phone. Is he alright?” Novak decides to ask. Dean hesitates for a moment, wondering if he should answer. Maybe he should try to be less of a jerk?

“It’s our Uncle,” Dean says, because it’s easier to explain it like that. Bobby is kind of their uncle anyway. “Probably to give him a heads up about his girlfriend. She’s in a coma.”

Novak seems to freeze once the words escape Dean’s mouth. His lips are pressed together in a hard line, his eyes indicating that his mind is clearly elsewhere now. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Dean doesn’t respond. He unpacks his burger and takes a big bite out of it, barely aware that he’s vocalizing just how much he enjoys his meal.

“So,” he starts with a full mouth. “Revelation 8. What is it?”

Novak sits down at the table, though he seems hesitant on opening the foil of his burger.

“It’s from the bible,” he starts.

“Yeah, I got that, smartpants,” Dean returns. Another glare comes from Novak.

“You didn’t let me finish my sentence,” he gets from the Doctor. “Revelation is a book from the New Testament. It’s the only Apocalyptic document in it. Revelation 8 talks about the seventh seal and the trumpets.”

“Okay, so, the Apocalypse. Great,” Dean grunts as he chews. “What’s with those trumpets?”

“The seven trumpets are sounded by seven Angels,” Novak starts. “From chapter 8 to 11, each event that follows is described in detail. In Biblical Greek the trumpets are referred as Salpingos.”

“Cool,” Dean mutters. He’s lying, and Novak realizes it all too much, obviously. “Remember what each trumpet represents?”

Novak observes him for a little bit longer before letting out a little sigh. “The first trumpet represents hail and fire. The second talks about a great burning mountain that plunges into the sea and wipes out a third of all sea life.”

“Burning mountain, like a volcano?” Dean tries. Novak shrugs.

“It is possible, yes,” he offers. “The third trumpet supposedly brought Wormwood onto the Earth, which in turn poisons a third of the planet’s freshwater sources. The fourth indicates a part of the light, from the sun or moon, that becomes dark. For a third of a day there’s complete darkness, day or night.”

“And the three trumpets after that?”

“The fifth opens up a bottomless pit that brings smoke out and darkens the air, along with many other dark creatures. The sixth brings out four Angels who command a brute force of 200 million mounted troops. Their horses dissipated plague out from their mouths. The seventh is the final sound, or ‘woe’ as it is called. ‘ _The Kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever_ ’.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“Afterwards God’s temple in Heaven was opened. Within it the ark of his covenant was to be seen. At last, there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, thunder, earthquakes and severe hailstorms.”

Novak is quiet after that, and Dean takes a moment to study this man in front of him. He’s still so young. So how is it that he has this much knowledge about everything related to religion. How in hell is he already an expert at this age?

“So, what’s it all mean?” Dean eventually asks after they’ve found themselves in an uncomfortable silence. Dean shifts a bit in his seat and hisses when it pulls at his stitches.

“Christian Eschatology interprets the first six trumpets as wake-up calls to the sinners of the earth. It’s supposedly a call to repentance. Each trumpet blast is accompanied with a plague or other kind of disastrous event, each one worse than the one before it.”

“So, how many disastrous events happened in the time of Ancient Greece?”

“I suppose the most famous one was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79?” Novak offers. The name sparks something inside of Dean.

“That was the volcano that destroyed Pompeii and stuff, right?” he tries. Novak nods.

“Yes, along with Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae,” he gets in return. “It’s reported to be the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions in European history.”

“Any chance people might associate the eruption with the Apocalyptic events of Revelation?”

Before Novak can answer, Sam enters the room again. His face looks pale, but by how he’s set his jaw it’s clear that he’s intending on biting through it.

“Any news?” Dean asks. Sam clears his throat before sitting down next to the doctor. He takes his own burger in his hands, but he’s fumbling with it rather than eating it.

“Still the same. Doctors are telling us it’s probably time to let her go,” Sam gets out with a shaky voice. Then he lets out a deep breath through his nose. “So, tell me you got a lead?”

That’s enough to make it clear that Sam doesn’t want to talk about it any further.

“Uh, maybe. Just how much do you know about Pompeii?”

“The city in Italy?”

“More like the ruins,” Dean offers. Sam clears his throat once again, dropping the burger before taking a swing from his water bottle.

“It’s not exactly Greece, is it?” Sam points out, and just by that, Dean’s convinced that their lead is lost. That is, until Novak opens his mouth once again.

“Is it possible for us to look something up on that laptop of yours?” he asks. Sam doesn’t even hesitate. He types down the password on he computer before shoving it in Novak’s direction. The Doctor pulls it closer before making his search.

“What’re you looking up? Natural disasters in Ancient Greece?” Dean tries. Novak shakes his head, squinting at the screen for a bit longer before he nods in understanding. Then, eventually, he turns the computer around until Sam and Dean can look at what’s written on the screen.

“Pompeii might not be Greece, but Herculaneum is said to be of Greek origin. Also, around the end of the 6th century before Christ the Greek used the town as a trading post due to its proximity to the Gulf of Naples up until he 4th century before Christ.”

“So, we’ve got Herculaneum as a lead? In case you’ve forgotten, that city got buried under ashes after that volcano erupted,” Sam points out. “Also, if it’s anything like Pompeii, it’s certainly a tourist attraction. The Palace was already full of them, you wanna do that one again?”

“Well, while indeed a lot has been excavated, still 75% of the town remains buried to this day,” Novak points out. “According to this, the Italian towns of Ercolano and Portici lie on top of where Herculaneum supposedly was located.”

“Well, okay, but then we still have no exact location. We can’t just go and look around in two whole cities, guys.”

God fucking damnit, Dean never wished more that his brother was wrong, but he isn’t. He’s absolutely right. Of course…

“Guess we’ll have to look around, then,” Novak says in defeat. The three men look at the table, Dean waiting a couple of seconds before taking another bite of his burger.

“Say, wasn’t there a new documentary about that volcano a few weeks ago?” Sam suddenly asks just when Dean almost got to the point to let go of the lead. “I remember Jess telling me about it. She saw a part of it in her class.”

Sam opens up his laptop again and starts to type something down with quick movements, his finger almost not to follow.

“I don’t know, I don’t really watch a lot of TV,” Novak admits, and Dean, too, shrugs.

“Dunno, Sammy,” he admits. Sam grumbles a bit as he starts to search but then he turns his screen around.

“Here it is,” he says after that. There’s the name of a documentary about to volcano, indeed, made by a certain Fergus McLeod. “I think we should check some of the stores, maybe one of them sells a copy of the thing.”

“You want to buy a documentary?” Dean asks in dismay. Sam raises his eyebrow as he stares at his brother.

“What else do you suggest, Dean?” he counters. “We’re at a dead end, we have no further leads other than ‘go to where Herculaneum used to be’. That’s not a lot.”

“Yeah, okay, sure, but…”

“What even is twenty dollars when there’s such a big treasure awaiting you?”

Dean puts his lips together to keep his mouth shut. To be fair, he had never intended on doing this for the money. That’s Sam’s deal, since he needs it to pay for Jessica’s medical bills. Dean just needs to find out the truth about the symbol. That’s all.

His eyes meet Novak’s for a short while, and a thrill goes by him. This guy, too, just needs to know the truth. Sam’s right; what’s twenty dollars? Sure, they never managed to bring home many riches, but there’s always enough artifacts that bring in a little bit of cash. Especially for the superstitious.

“Alright, let’s head out,” he finally agrees.

Two hours later, the three of them are seated on Sam’s bed, the laptop on Dean’s. The DVD they managed to find after three different shops currently playing on the device. It’s not too long, which is good because Dean doesn’t know how long he can stand to listen to this British asshole. Granted, he’s never met the guy, but he doesn’t need to to know that he wouldn’t like him in real life, either.

“Damn it, Dean sit still for a minute, will you?” Sam complains after Dean moves his leg for what must be the tenth time in the past three minutes.

“Shut up, you’re taking all the space you giant sasquatch.”

Novak snorts. Dean feels a weird pleasing sense which he ignores. He finds it rather funny, though, when Sam leans forward to glare at the doctor.

“Do you have any brothers, Castiel?” Sam asks, and wow, Dean didn’t know they were already on the first-name basis.

“Yes, I do. A twin brother, in fact,” Novak states in amusement. “His name is Jimmy.”

“Is he as annoying as mine?”

“Hey!” Dean shoves Sam in the side. Novak leans away to stay out of danger.

“On the contrary, my brother’s extremely well-adjusted,” the Doctor jokes, though his eyes seem distant, like he’s stuck in a memory.

“Hey!” Dean repeats again, this time glaring at the man on his other side. Novak keeps his eyes averted, still dreaming away about something. “How about we all shut up and watch this crap for a change, huh?”

But he can understand why nobody’s really paying attention. The British guy keeps on adding weird sarcastic comments to everything that don’t really seem to fit in the current setting of the documentary. At one point, Dean even gets up to grab himself a beer from the fridge. It’s during that one minute that he’s not watching that he hears his brother jump up from his spot on the bed.

“Hold up!” the younger Winchester shouts, grabbing for his laptop to wind the video back. Dean hurries back to the others, seeing Novak shrug at him when he shoots the Doctor a questioning glance.

“What’s up, Sammy?” Dean asks eventually. Sam grumbles a little bit while he fumbles with the computer, but eventually a certain scene gets played again, and Sam pauses the documentary at a specific part.

Then he points at the screen.

“That’s the symbol, isn’t it?” he asks. Dean gets closer to have a look at whatever Sam’s seeing. His eyes widen when he does notice a faded drawing on some sort of temple that does indeed resemble the symbol, though it looks like a part of it is missing, disappeared in the years.

Dean would never have spotted that. One look at the Doctor makes it clear that he shares that thought.

“Where is that?” Novak asks eventually. Sam rewinds a little bit more until he sees a title card appear.

“Temple of Cassia,” he reads out. Immediately, he closes the documentary and searches it up on the internet.

“Cassia, of course,” Dean mutters with an eye-roll. “What are the odds that one’s dedicated to our favorite Archangel?”

“I believe those are rather high,” Novak points out. When he shifts in his seat, Dean suddenly notices the red spot on his shirt.

“Dude, you’re bleeding. I thought you didn’t get any cuts?” he asks. Almost out of reflex, he grabs Novak’s arm and pulls up his sleeve, finding a painful looking wound that doesn’t seem to be made by glass.

“I didn’t,” Novak returns. “I tripped over a rock back in the cave, scratched my elbow open. I totally forgot about it.”

Dean looks it over, finding that it doesn’t look that bad indeed, but blood is still blood, and it’s currently stuck inside Novak’s white shirt.

“I think that shit is going to be hell to take out,” Dean says, pointing out at the red stain. Novak sighs but then shrugs.

“It’s alright. I figured my current attire wasn’t exactly fitted for the type of thing we’re currently doing.”

Dean snorts. He can’t help but agree with that; a white dress shirt, black jacket and a blue tie? With on top of that a beige trench coat? Yeah, no, there’s no way that’s going to be working in their favor. Besides, they can’t exactly take him into the wilds with those black shoes.

“Yeah, no, I figure you’ll need some new attire,” Dean mutters out. He looks up at Sam after that, who seems to have found what he’s looking for. “How about we head out to town, stock up on what we need, and then take the first flight to Italy?”

Sam nods. “Sounds like a great idea.” He closes his laptop and grabs his bag. “We should be taking more nutrition bars and stuff. Maybe some more rope. You can never have enough rope. And batteries for our flashlights? I mean, I wouldn’t want to end up without it.”

While Sam keeps on summing up whatever else they need, they put themselves into the rental and drive onto the road.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I often (always) reply! ^^


	6. Tempio di Cassia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an ambush in the palace, the group has found a lead, bringing them to Italy. Dean doesn't really like the doctor joining them, but Sam's not really giving him a choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beware: I am not Italian. Neither do I have Italian friends or family. If you're Italian and I've butchered your language, I truly apologize and feel free to correct any mistakes you can find! Since I have to rely on Google Translate, I've tried to keep the sentences as short as possible given that those are the best translated in the program.  
> Other than that I wish you all a Merry Christmas! It's insane how last year I was posting the final chapter of Being A Stark, and now there's already 4 finished stories in that verse!

 

“Don’t you think we should have found this without watching that stupid documentary?”

Dean looks up into the rear mirror, eyes resting on Novak for a short moment before glancing at his brother next to him. In that short time he sees Sam shrug.

“Yeah, probably,” he mutters. With the pages he printed out about everything he found on the Temple of Cassia, he does his research during the drive. Novak, too, has a stack of papers in his lap, though his attention sometimes goes to the outside world. Dean doesn’t say anything about it.

“It wouldn’t have been hard to find the one temple in Italy that was dedicated to Cassiel, indeed,” Novak points out when Sam doesn’t say anything further. Obviously, it’s too late to worry too much about it, since they’re already on their way to the plaza close to the temple. According to Sam’s notes the building isn’t too big, built along with the new city after the eruption of the volcano. Nothing much is known about it as the story of Cassia hasn’t been shared around the world like other legends have.

“Why do you think it is that people remain so mysterious about this Cassia-person?” Sam wonders out loud as he drops his papers and looks outside the window. Dean is standing in front of a red light so he’s waiting before he can move on.

“Hell do I know,” Dean returns. He moves up the car once the light turns green, taking a turn into the parking lot. After handing the clerk a couple of Euro-bills he finds himself a spot. “Maybe somebody there knows more about it? It’s probably just some local legend that has been passed along each other mouth to mouth.”

The others nod in agreement, and once the car is parked they get themselves out. Sam grabs a backpack out of the trunk while Dean takes a swing from the water bottle. After making sure that their coats are closed down – since it’s almost December – the three of them exit the parking lot and get onto the streets.

It’s not full, clearly out of the tourism season. The people out here are most likely just trying to go to their stores or jobs. Nobody’s walking around with cameras or other stuff like that. Dean tries hard not to stand out too much, but Sam with the stupid bag is pretty obviously a tourist.

They’re not stopped by anybody while they move forward. Following the map where Dean pointed out their eventual destination, it takes them about fifteen minutes to get to where they need to be. And as they suspected much, the temple isn’t big at all.

Made out of white stone, the building would probably seem to shine in the summer. Dean whistles, impressed, as he puts his hand over the pillars at the front.

“Looks rather well-tended for a temple that isn’t very much known about,” Sam mutters with a frown.

“Yeah, well, I rather have this than something about to crumble down at our feet,” Dean points out. He nods towards the building in an indication that they should get inside. Novak silently follows him while Sam remains outside for a little moment.

“What is it that we’re looking for?” the Doctor asks and Dean gives him a short look.

“Anything related to that symbol. Where did we see it in the documentary?”

Novak points towards the big statue in the middle of the room. It looks a bit like the Cassiel-statue at the Palace, only this one is lacking wings.

“It was on her right shoulder,” Novak explains. Dean nods, heading towards the stone figure and looking up. The thing is even larger up close, though it looks like it’s seen some damage in the past, despite how well-kept this entire building seems to be.

The sculpture is missing three fingers, and a piece of her nose has been chipped off. Other than that, there’s an obvious dark smudge on the right shoulder of the woman that seems to be faded by time. Dean looks around for a short moment before he states that there’s nobody around to see this. Then he climbs up on the statue, uncaring of any cameras around.

“Mr. Winchester, what are you doing?” Novak asks worriedly. That’s the exact time Sam decides to enter the temple as well.

“Oh, Dean, for crying out loud, seriously?”

Dean, who is holding on to the arms of Cassia, crawls up until the shoulder is right in front of his face.

“How about you keep watch to make sure nobody else gets in here, huh?” Dean asks. He can almost hear Sam roll his eyes, and before long the man throws his hands up in the air and turns back towards the entrance where he looks around for a bit. Novak, though, remains unmoving.

“Is there anything you’re seeing?” he asks. Dean grunts a bit while he tries to lean back.

“Not yet,” he mutters while holding on to Cassia’s stone arm. With one hand freed, he wipes his fingers over the symbol, almost expecting for anything to happen. When nothing does, he deflates a bit. “Well, that’s disappointing.”

“What were you even expecting to happen?” Novak asks while Dean jumps back down on the ground with a grunt.

“I dunno, a secret entrance to open or anything like that.”

Novak inspects him for a moment longer before the two men keep their gaze on the stone face of the sculpted woman in front of them. Once again, there’s this familiarity in her frozen expression that seems to reel Dean in. It’s almost frustrating, to feel like he’s having so many déjà-vus at once but unable to place them.

“Che stai facendo li?”

The two turn around only to find a young man around their age walk in from the other direction. Dean hadn’t even noticed that there’s another room in there? Has this guy been here all this time?

“Stiamo guardando la statua,” comes out flawlessly out of Novak’s mouth, which brings Dean a little wide-eyed. Is there a language this guy _doesn’t_ understand?

Dean takes in this new man; he’s got light brown hair, the one that probably looks blonde during summer. There are some freckles his face, rosy cheeks from the chill. His eyes look sad, a dark shade of blue. For some unknown reason, this guy looks familiar in a sense, which is kind of impossible since Dean isn’t aware of knowing any Italians. Dean figures he looks like some sort of actor he must have seen passing in a movie.

The man is looking at both of them with wide eyes. He looks like he’s only fresh out of college, or should probably still be there. What is he doing in such an unknown temple like this one?

While Novak starts talking to the boy in perfect Italian, Dean clears his throat and tries to look around for a bit. That’s when he notices that there are some drawings on the wall that seem to be telling another story.

“Sammy?” he calls out for his brother who is probably still keeping watch. In only a few seconds his brother is next to him.

“Who’s that?” he asks instead of trying to find out what they’ve learned. Good that he has his priorities so straight.

“I dunno, dude just showed up here. I don’t understand a word they’re saying,” Dean mutters while nodding towards the two a bit further away. The boy seems kind of starstruck from looking at Novak, which seems a bit weird. He probably heard about him. Kid’s surely a nerd as well.

“Hey, Castiel, what’s going on?” Sam asks without any reservations about interrupting the two of them. Novak turns in surprise, and the other kid keeps on staring, though this time at Sammy as well. Maybe he’s just not used to seeing tourists around.

“This is Athan,” Novak introduces the kid. “His family used to tend the temple before he took over. He’s, uhm, familiar with my work.”

Dean raises an eyebrow, gazing at the kid before holding out his hand.

“Hi, I’m Dean,” he introduces himself.

“Hello,” the kid responds, though with a very broken accent. “Dr. Novak says you are… interested in… di Tempio?” He points at everything around them before turning back to look at Dean.

“Yes, we are indeed,” Dean returns. “Can you tell us more about it?”

The kid nods before continuing his speech in Italian. With one short gaze at the Doctor, the man helps translate for them.

“According to the lore of the temple, it was built after the catastrophe of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius as a reference to a child brought by the Gods as a last savior for the people who deserved it. According to the stories, she guided the people to a city of waterfalls.”

That steals Dean’s attention. “A city of waterfalls?” he asks in surprise.

“What’s wrong, Dean?” Sam asks.

“Sounds an awful lot like Dinotopia to me,” Dean mutters. Sam frowns at him, crossing his arms with an unimpressed look.

“Seriously, Dean? From a movie that came out three years ago?” Sam asks.

“Hey, for starters, Dinotopia was a miniseries, and secondly, I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about the writer of the books that inspired the show, James Gurney.”

The three don’t seem to be following him, which shouldn’t surprise him but still annoys him.

“Dude worked for National Geographic, alongside archaeologists, to create or paint ancient cities and stuff, which is what inspired the stories.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So… guy somehow got inspiration to create a city called ‘Waterfall City’, and now there is a supposedly ancient city of waterfalls?”

“Dean, that’s just a coincidence,” Sam mutters while rubbing his eyes.

“When’s it ever a coincidence?” Dean asks.

“Always! Dean, all these places like El Dorado, Atlantis or a supposed ‘Waterfall City’ don’t exist!”

“If you’re so certain about that, then why did you come on this expedition?”

There’s a silence, Sam turns around and takes a few steps away from the group. “Because… I don’t know,” Sam mutters. He puts his hands on his hips and shakes his head. “I guess I was wishing for it to be true because of Jess…”

Dean presses his lips together and he catches Novak leaning to the side, gesturing to the boy to give them some privacy. As the two walk off, Dean waits a few seconds before approaching his brother.

“What’s on your mind, Sammy?” he asks. Sam just sighs.

“I just… what if we’re just chasing nothing? What if, all this time I could have spent with her I’m wasting it here, miles away from home searching for a city from a movie about dinosaurs?” Sam sniffs sadly, rubbing at his eyes again. It’s obvious that he’s trying all he can to keep himself from crying, but he’s failing at it.

Dean stays quiet, just putting his hand on Sam’s shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

“How much have you slept on the plane?” Dean asks. Sam chuckles.

“I didn’t,” he returns bitterly.

“Man, you’re probably exhausted. We should just finish up here, find out what there is to find, and then head back to the hotel to get some shut-eye, okay?”

Dean aches for his brother. He really does. Having finally found the perfect girl, he’s so close to losing her again. Dean can understand this sudden outburst of emotion, especially with such a lack of sleep. Who knows if Novak even slept on the flight?

“Let’s just see what more this Athan-guy has to say about this place, huh?”

Sam nods again, swinging his arms around like he’s trying to shake his emotions off. Then he lets out a deep breath and forces up a smile at his brother.

“You’re right,” he says. “Castiel?”

Almost immediately, the other two return without mentioning anything about what just happened. When Sam asks them to continue, the kid starts speaking again. Effortlessly, Novak translates further.

According to the stories, the city of the Waterfalls is located on an Island that is nearly unreachable by boat. People who are allowed in never want to get out again. It’s become a supposed Paradise for the worthy, and only those are able to find it.

“How did they find it?” Sam asks eventually. Novak directs the question back at Athan, who doesn’t seem to hesitate, instead pointing up at the symbol on the statue’s shoulder. The same symbol they’re going after.

“I guess they followed the trail of symbols,” Dean mutters, and the boy, who seems to have understood, nods in agreement. “Do you know what it means?”

“Cerchio imperfetto,” Athan explains. “Ciclo rotto.”

Upon casting a questioning glance at a confused Novak, the doctor translates those four last words.

“Uh, he means an imperfect circle or a broken cycle,” Novak answers. “Which is rather funny since no circle is perfect, in fact-“

“Okay, not what matters right now,” Dean interrupts him. Novak glares at him, but then eventually nods as he seems to agree. Meanwhile, Athan continues speaking, and the Doc translates immediately.

“Cassia became some sort of queen at the city. She fell in love with a human who then became her royal consort. They had three children according to the lore; Athanasius, Sofia and a third unnamed child.” Novak waits for Athan to continue talking before he resumes his translation. “It turns out the Gods turned jealous of Cassia because the people who stayed at the city of waterfalls stopped worshipping them and instead started worshipping her. That the people forgot whose idea it was to guide them to paradise in the first place.”

“Let me guess, the Gods unleashed another wrath upon them, sinking the city or whatever?”

Athan shrugs. “Nobody knows,” he returns hesitantly.

“What I’m wondering is why this has never really shown up in any of the ancient lore?” Sam asks curiously.

“As a matter of fact, the myths that we’re all aware off are probably not even half of the stories that were told in the past,” Novak reasons.

“Yet those are many centuries older than this one,” Sam points out. “The eruption of that volcano? That happened _after_ Christ. Are you telling me that a story from almost two thousand years ago is less remembered that one that supposedly happened ages before even that?”

“Well, given the fact that there’s nothing known of a Cassia in any of the ancient Greek lore, I think it’s safe to say that people didn’t really believe in this one as much as the others,” Dean offers. He crosses his arms and sighs, leaning up against the statue without thinking of it. When Athan suddenly starts talking to him with a slightly raised voice, Dean stands up again with his hands raised in the air.

“He’s probably asking you not to lean against the very old statue,” Sam hisses towards him. Dean rolls his eyes.

“Your brother is right,” Novak feels the need to add. Dean’s eyes do a full circle almost now.

“Sorry, okay? See, I’m stepping back now.” And Dean does indeed, keeping his hands in the air while he heads towards the side. Athan keeps his eyes on him, studying him but clearly not upset anymore. Eventually, Dean starts getting at least a _little_ bit uncomfortable. When he lifts up an eyebrow, Athan quickly averts his gaze.

“How about we head back? We should return here after we got a good night’s rest, maybe?” Dean eventually suggests when he figures that it’s a dead end for now. They should take it easy; as far as they know they haven’t been followed here. Besides, how would Jaune even know how to find them? Their link to Herculaneum had been a wild guess, and that’s because they dared to think about a connection between it and the text from Revelation.

Sam rubs his eyes again before yawning. Novak nods as well. He quickly turns towards Athan to thank him for his help and the boy shakes their hands before heading out again. The three leave the temple wordlessly, getting back into the butt-ugly red car they rented with Dean behind the wheel. This time they got themselves two different rooms. Dean suggested Sam should bunk up with Novak but that’s mostly because he didn’t want to risk getting to share a room with the guy himself. Surely, Sam likes the guy enough, right?

They go into their separate rooms and Dean takes the moment to enjoy a hot shower. He rubs the back of his neck, which is still a bit stiff from the flight, and takes his time washing himself. By the time he’s out, the entire bathroom has fogged up and he has to wipe at the mirror to see his reflection. Wearing nothing but his towel, Dean enters the room with a whistle escaping his lips.

“Hello, Mr. Winchester,” a deep voice calls out. Dean, who is a man of action, jumps up into a fighting stance, ready to take down who-ever broke into his room.

“Doc?” he asks in confusion when he finds the familiar form of the Doctor seated on the second bed in Dean’s room. Before either of them can speak again, Dean’s towel feels the need to loosen up, falling off his hips and onto the ground.

“Uh,” Novak gets out, quickly turning his head to the side with reddened cheeks. Dean curses as he grabs the towel off the floor and binds it around himself once again.

“What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were staying with Sammy?”

“Your brother snores,” Novak returns. Dean finds himself snorting.

“He’s lying on his back, isn’t he?”

“Yup.”

“That idiot.” Dean heads towards his bag, grabbing some briefs and his sleeping shirt before undressing masterfully underneath the towel. “How did you even get in here?”

Novak holds up a key identical to Dean’s, which isn’t difficult since from afar the keys all look alike. “Sam had your spare. I took the liberty of relieving him from it.”

Dean throws away the towel and sits down on the bed looking at his hands. He’s not really sure what’s supposed to happen here; does Novak want to continue research? Or does he want to sleep? Because to be fair Dean wasn’t going to catch his zzz’s until a bit later. There’s more information he wants to look up.

“What was your theory about this writer of those books?” Novak tries.

“James Gurney, he’s, uh…” Dean hesitates for a bit, wondering if it wasn’t just a long shot after all?

“You said he worked with archeologists? Were there many of them?”

Dean shrugs. “I don’t know. Guy remained rather secretive about who he met, just that he worked with them and that lead to the inspiration of the books,” Dean explains.

“Do you think it’s possible that one of those archeologists might have had an idea about this city of waterfalls and told him about it?”

“It’s possible, but then I wonder why they never came out with it?” Dean taps his chin as he thinks. “It’s probably dumb, we shouldn’t waste our time on this…”

“I think it’s entirely possible for this to make sense,” Novak quickly interjects. He clears his throat then, passing his hand through his hair. “I was still wondering as to why this symbol is so important to you, but I think I understand now.”

Dean turns his gaze to his left shoulder. Now he’s wearing his shirt, but earlier his upper body had been bare. The cat’s out of the bag now, so it seems.

“Right,” he mutters, his right hand going over the skin of his shoulder, touching the mark that is etched in there. It’s like this burning mark or something, a scar that he never remembered getting. It’s the thing that drove his parents to this quest in the first place. How he wished they had at least found a little bit more before ending up pregnant with Sammy…

“How did you get it?” Novak asks, curiously. Dean closes his eyes for a second before shaking his head.

“Doesn’t matter,” Dean mutters. “Besides, it’s not really any of your business, is it?”

There’s another flash of hurt going over Novak’s face. Without being able to explain it, Dean finds himself hating having it there. Still, he bites his lips together and lies down on his bed.

“How ‘bout we go to sleep, huh?”

There’s a silence from next to him for a few seconds before Dean can hear the shifting noises. Finding the doctor underneath the covers the next time Dean turns to look at his unwanted roommate, Dean gets underneath his own and reaches to turn off the lights. He’s exhausted, so some shut-eye won’t be too bad.

It’s a beautiful day out. The landscapes around him are green, the mountains painting the background in various heights. When Dean turns around he sees her standing next to him. He doesn’t know her, never saw her before in his life, yet her name is still on the tip of his tongue.

“Cassia,” he says in a short breath. The woman next to him tilts her head to the side. Her long brown hair is moving with the wind. She’s wearing a golden headband and a dark blue dress. Her feet are bare, but so are his.

When she looks at him, he realizes that she’s about the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen in his life. Her eyes are a dark shade of blue, shining in the sunlight above them. Her eyebrows match the color of her hair, a little bit on the thicker side but not too much. Her lips are full, slightly curved downwards in their natural position. Yet, now, she’s smiling, showing him white teeth.

“There you are,” she says while holding out her hand towards him. Without question he takes it, allowing her to pull him along, closer to the mountain. A young teenager comes storming past them, chasing an excited dog with a stick in his mouth. The kid looks no older than fourteen, maybe. He’s got messy brown hair, but Dean can’t really see his face. That’s okay, he can’t remove his eyes from the woman, anyway.

“So, Scamandrius looks like he’s having fun,” the woman says. Her voice is a bit raspy, hoarse, but nonetheless it’s about the most beautiful sound Dean’s ever heard in his life.

“He needed this. Thank you, my love,” he says in return, though he’s not really sure why. The words are out of his mouth, and before he knows it he’s pressing his lips against Cassia’s hand.

Then suddenly the scene changes, and Dean is in the exact same spot, only now it’s dark. Or, not dark… cloudy. Very cloudy. Not even that. There’s a thick orange glow going around there. A quick look at the mountains around them, Dean quickly sees what the problem is.

“We need to get out of here,” he mutters out, but when he tries to grab the woman’s shoulder he only finds air under his fingers. In his confusion he looks around as she’s no longer standing next to him. The smoke emerging from the volcano only comes closer. If he stays here, he’s going to get burned to death by the heat of it!

But he can’t find Cassia, nor the kid or the dog. It’s like they’ve all disappeared. A quick glance at the city behind him and Dean realizes what’s about to happen. They’re all going to die, each and every one of them. It must be horrible, this fate. Dean closes his eyes and decides to wait for the inevitable end, only when the smoke is about to hit him he ends up on the ground instead.

“Mr. Winchester, are you alright?”

Dean startles awake, realizing rather quickly that he’s not burned on the spot by a gigantic cloud of some heading his way. He quickly passes his hands over his skin to make sure that it’s not just nerve-damage that makes him think he’s not feeling anything.

It’s a relief to find that it was nothing but a dream. Dean lies back down on the pillow, realizing only a few seconds later that somebody called out for him, Dean turns his head to the side to find a slightly worried-looking Castiel Novak looking at him.

“What?” he asks none too friendly.

“You were crying out in your sleep. Were you having a nightmare?”

Dean closes his eyes while shaking his head. He can’t do this; he can’t even pretend to be nice to this guy. Everything about him just irks Dean on so many levels and he can’t even explain why. The mere fact that he’s asking what’s wrong is already the wrong thing for him to do.

Dean lets out a small grunt as he throws his legs over the bed. He’s all too aware of the doctor’s eyes on him. It’s easy to ignore. None too shy about his appearance, Dean heads towards the window, puts his hands on his chin while he tries to think back about his dream.

But he realizes he can’t. He knows that there were some people in his mind, but he can’t for the life of him remember who it was about. All he remembers is the eruption of a volcano, which is surely just because of all the stories he’s been hearing today.

He lowers his gaze, wondering if he should go back to sleep or not. A quick look at his phone tells him that it’s three in the night. There’s nowhere really for him to go at this time. He blinks a couple of times before turning back to Novak.

“I’m going for a ride,” he says without too much explanation. He picks up his pants from the ground, grabs his keys once they’re on and gets out of the room without further explanation. He can vaguely hear Novak call out his name – not even his last name! – before he closes the door behind him. Just for a short moment he stands still, tilting his head to the side. Eventually he shakes it. He needs to get out of there for a bit.

He’s barely aware of where he’s driving to. Since it’s in the middle of the night, there’s no cars on the road. That means that he’s got parking spots to spare, though he’s acting on automatic pilot at this point. Only when he finds himself back in the empty temple with a flashlight in his hand does he realize what drove him here.

It’s the familiarity in the statue’s features that peaked his attention. There’s a spotlight shining over her head, as if to keep her in the center of all attention 24/7 while there’s probably rarely any tourists coming over. Dean doesn’t think too much about it.

He eyes the statue attentively, taking in the form of her face, the turn of her eyes where she seems sad whenever she doesn’t smile. The full lips, even the freaking curls of her hair. The longer Dean watches, the more she seems to be alive. It spooks him, but still he can not look away.

That’s when he notices it. Wasn’t her nose broken off? And a couple of her fingers? Now the statue looks completely unscathed, almost as if as new? Dean hums in confusion, walking towards it and climbing onto the base to check it out further.

“Cosa stai facendo qui?”

“Oh shit.”

Here Dean stands, once again on the statue like he’s been chastised for before. He jumps off it again, wiping his hands on his pants while turning towards the boy with an awkward wave.

“Uh, olá?” Wait, that’s Spanish… shit, how is ‘hello’ said in Italian?

The boy from earlier, Athan, seems unimpressed by his greeting. His dark blue eyes study Dean’s form, and he’s making absolutely no gesture to move.

“Before, you were here,” the boy then states, turning to English though with difficulty. Dean admires the boy for trying at least.

“Uh, yeah, I was,” he returns.

“Brother and lover?”

“Lov-? Wait, hold on a second.” Dean puts his finger up.

“How long together?”

“Okay, just where do your priorities lie? Aren’t you at least curious why I’m here?” Dean holds back the reflex to shudder on the spot at the idea of having _any_ sort of relationship with Novak. Even this ‘hostile acquaintances’ they’re currently at is almost too much for him.

“Would like to know why, yes.” Athan crosses his arms. Despite the fact that he just caught Dean red-handed while climbing the statue he was told earlier not to climb, the guy seems calm and rather patient.

Dean then points towards the stone statue he’s standing next to. “When I arrived here earlier, this statue didn’t have a nose,” he finally says. Athan’s eyebrow goes up, expression still clearly very unimpressed. “And fingers; she was missing a few of them, too. Now they’re here. What’s that about?”

“Repaired,” is all Athan says. Dean rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, right, in those two hours or so that we’ve been away you magically fixed all that and made it seem like it never broke at all.”

“Why are you here?” Athan then repeats his question. He’s clearly losing his patience a bit.

“Because…” Dean sighs while he tries to think of anything to say to him. Why is he here? Is it because of that dream he had? The dream with the woman who has the exact same face like the one on the statue? He shakes his head, figuring he’s got nothing to lose, really. He then points towards the symbol.

Athan’s eyes follow to where Dean’s finger is guiding them to, and when he sees the smudge on Cassia’s shoulder his mouth drops open.

“Il cerchio imperfetto,” he hears Athan mumble from where he’s standing. Dean then shrugs off his jacket and pulls up the sleeve of his shirt. When Athan catches the same mark on Dean’s skin, his eyes widen even more. “Finalmente sei qui.”

“Yeah, no, I still have no idea what you just said, but will you at least let me have a look around for a bit? Try to see what I can figure out?” Dean tries, just hoping that Athan will leave him be at last. The boy seems to hesitate, though.

“No hanging off statue?” he asks. Dean smirks before shrugging.

“Uh, whatever you say, buddy,” he returns. Athan stares for one moment longer before nodding. He then turns around, taking his light-torch with him as he makes his way out. Dean watches the kid, still feeling this inexplainable uneasy feeling he has around him. Once Athan is completely gone, Dean turns back to the statue that was supposedly fixed. It looks completely different from the one Dean saw earlier today; cleaner, newer… the pose and the expression are still the same, though.

Dean looks at the arm. The one that is reaching forward, as if she’s extending out her hand for him to take. He hesitates for a few seconds before putting his own into her open palm. Once his fingers close around its wrist, the hand closes around him.

Dean lets out a panicked shout as he tries to take his hand out of it again. He manages to free himself without too much difficulty, though he finds himself breathless and with a fast beating heart, still.

“Okay, what the hell just happened?” he mutters to himself. Inspecting the statue once again, the hand has returned to its opened form, though that’s not exactly what catches his attention.

It’s the set of stairs that has appeared right in front of the statue without Dean even hearing about it. His mouth falls open in his surprise.

Shit, Sam should really be here. Heck, he could in fact also use Novak’s knowledge at this point. Still, Dean is here alone so he should just figure it out on his own. He clears his throat, grabs the flashlight from the ground where he dropped it earlier and braces himself.

Besides, what danger could there be down here?


	7. Down in the Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team travels to Italy where they looked into the Temple of Cassia. At first sight there wasn't anything they found, but after Dean returns on his own later on he discovers a secret passage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story's nearly finished, so I'm shifting the updates to twice a week. Not sure if the story's any good, so please any feedback is greatly appreciated. 
> 
> Chapter warnings in end notes. 
> 
> Once again apologies to all Italian-speaking people if I butchered your language. Google translate might not be my best friend, but he's the only one available to help me I'm afraid.

The first thing Dean does once he gets downstairs is sneeze. The durst covering all the surfaces around him fly around the moment he walks inside the secret underground hallway. After a quick look back he’s glad to see that the door hasn’t closed behind him.

Dean’s had his fair share of hidden hallways that haven’t been visited in centuries. He’s been through them more often than not, learning to appreciate them in a way he couldn’t back when he was a kid and scared of them.

“Signore?” comes from above. Dean doesn’t need to be a genius to know it’s Athan, who must have heard something. Probably Dean’s slight moment of panic when the statue grabbed his hand.

“Down here!” Dean calls out. It wouldn’t be too bad to have somebody with him, right? Besides, that Athan doesn’t seem like a bad kid at all.

Athan hurries after him, looking like he’s seeing a whole new world around him.  

“Che cos'è questo?” the kid asks, completely dumbfounded. Dean doesn’t understand him, but the way he asks his question is enough to make him realize what he’s asking.

“Some sort of underground pathway. Wanna find out where it leads to?”

Athan blinks at him in question. Right when Dean is about to repeat his question, the kid nods in agreement. He grabs a flashlight from his belt and shines it into the endless darkness around them. All they see is that the hallway doesn’t seem to end soon.

Five minutes into their walk they get to another staircase. Only this one seems to be going deeper than the first one. They’re getting pretty much under the ground, much to Dean’s surprise. Athan passes his hand over every rock he finds. They avoid cobwebs, do their search of eventual traps around them, and after a couple of minutes they seem to get to the end of the line.

“Holy shit,” is what Dean manages out.

“Dio Mio,” Athan agrees.

Around them seems to be something that resembles an underground city. There’s ash all around, and bones on the ground. Much to Dean’s horror, he quickly realizes they’re human bodies along with animals.

“This is Herculaneum, isn’t it? At least a part that wasn’t found?”

Athan nods. He walks to where the city starts, his feet making prints on the ashes. Dean doesn’t stop him as he moves forward. Instead he grabs his digital camera from his pocket, glad he brought it along, and takes a few snapshots of everything around him.

“This is insane,” he mutters. This on itself would be the biggest archeological find in a long while; a part of the ruined city that hasn’t been found yet? He just has to get to the news with this and it would probably get him the money needed for Jessica’s medical bills.

Having no idea where Athan has wandered to, Dean makes his own trek through the ruins of the city. He tries not to move any of the bones as he walks. All these people, who didn’t know what happened to them… they just burned on the spot. And not even by fire, just by high temperatures coming from a smoke cloud. There was just no escaping it.

When he finds what seem like two bodies curled towards each other he kneels down in front of them. They couldn’t even have reached teenagerhood when they died. It’s just tragic.

“Nα είστε ειρήνη,” he mutters, though he doesn’t even know what he says. He squeezes his eyes shut, realizing that there’s this ringing in his head that comes out of nowhere. With a grunt he gets back on his feet, shaking off whatever just happened there.

“Signor Winchester?”

Dean startles. Athan is closer than he thought. Only passing one corner to the right he finds the kid standing in front of the remains of some sort of house. Athan has his finger pointing towards something on top of the door.

“Il symbolo.”

Dean follows his finger, finding that indeed the familiar carving of the mark has been put on the stone. He huffs out a breath in disbelief.

It can’t be that they found this Cassia’s house, can it? What could even be the odds of that?

Dean gives the door a slight push, surprised that it’s still attached. He’s about to point it out when suddenly something cracks and the thing drops down on the ground. The noise fills the entire space, making the two of them wince on the spot.

“Right, sorry,” Dean mutters towards Athan. After that he gets inside the house. It’s tiny, that much he can tell. There seems to be something that resembles a kitchen, a bathroom and some sort of living room. When he gets to stairs he finds that there’s nothing much left of it.

But that’s not going to stop Dean Winchester. Seeing a few remains of the boards poking out, he jumps up into the air and grabs onto it, pulling himself upwards. He lets out a small grunt as he moves more and more upwards, cursing when one of the boards breaks under his hands.

“Signor?” he hears underneath him. Dean takes a deep breath, looking downward to where Athan is standing.

“C’mon, it’s completely safe,” he huffs out jokingly before pressing his head against the wall. He’s nearly there, just two more climbs and then…

Dean gets back onto his feet once he’s reached the second floor. Arriving into what seems to be the hallway, Dean quickly realizes that it’s still very cramped up in here. Cassia and her guy weren’t exactly loaded.

The first room he comes across has a small bed to the side and what seem like a few toys scattered around on the ground. Dean huffs out a breath, kneeling down and taking one of those wooden toys into his hand. The fact that this survived… it’s unbelievable.

“Un bambino visse qui?” he hears Athan ask behind him. He actually climbed up as well? Dean’s impressed.

“Bambino, yes,” Dean mutters back, figuring that he means ‘child’. He puts the toy back down and sighs. Did the child survive? Was it one of Cassia’s kids? Athan gives the room a sad look while Dean passes him by to get out of there. Getting to the next door, he finds a much larger bed, dust and ashes scattered all around.

“Gli amanti?”

He shouldn’t be too surprised that Athan is standing behind him once again. The boy enters the room, coming to stand next to Dean with curious eyes.

“Sorry, what?” Dean asks.

Athan thinks for a few seconds before shaking his hand around while nodding.

“Lovers,” he translates his words. Dean looks back at the bed before figuring he must be right.

“Cassia and her guy,” he says. Then he huffs out a breath before shining his light back in Athan’s direction. “Say, why are there statues of this Cassia-chick all around but nothing of that boyfriend of hers?”

Athan shrugs, though Dean can see a strange look in the kid’s eyes. It’s weird, not exactly amusement, but rather some sort of… fondness? Is Dean finally warming up to him?

Dean’s about to exit the room before he notices it on the wall. Some sort of large painting on it. A mural. It’s actually rather impressive that it survived for this long.

On it there’s a portrayal of Cassia, but she’s not alone. By her side stands what seems to be a man. Though his face has been faded long since, it’s obvious enough who this man is meant to represent.

Letters are written on the bottom of the drawing, though they’re in Greek. No matter how much Dean squints at it, he can’t figure out what they mean. Instead, he takes out the camera once more and takes a picture of it. At least that way he can look it up later.

“L'hai sentito?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Dean pulls his eyes away from the portrait to find Athan walking to what must be the window. When he looks out of it, Dean hears him utter something under his breath. “Athan?”

“We must go,” the boy manages out. Storming towards the door, he grabs Dean by the arm.

“What? What’s going on, kid?”

“Armi.”

“An army?!”

Dean goes to the window Athan looked out of, finding flashes of light from people getting into the city. A curse escapes his lips. It must be Jaune’s men, which probably means they were followed by them. Will there ever be a place where he won’t be chased by guns?

“I learned nothing yet, I can’t leave,” Dean then tells Athan. “You head back, get cell service and call this number.”

Athan takes the piece of paper with Sam’s phone number and he looks at it curiously.

“It’s dangerous,” Athan warns him.

“I’ve been through worse, kiddo.” Dean shrugs once more before slapping him on the shoulder. Athan hesitates only for a few seconds more before he nods and leaves the room. Dean doesn’t think about the kid climbing back downstairs, instead making sure to obscure the windows before he puts his light back on. With it shining against the painting he takes a few steps back to take it in on its whole.

There’s Cassia, the way Dean remembers her statue being. On the painting her hair’s dark, her eyes blue and her skin slightly tanned by the sun. The man next to her looks equally tanned, meaning that the two of them must have been outside a lot. Probably former slaves? Being tanned usually meant you were poor in contrary to the pale people who could afford staying inside all the time.

Dean looks at Cassia, at the way she stands. She’s holding on to her partner’s arm, her other hand resting on his chest. The man looks relaxed through his pose, but it’s not much to go on with the face missing. Cassia is probably looking at her partner, and Dean would bet everything he has to say that the guy does the same thing in return.

Cassia wears a light blue dress. The guy has a dark red tunic. Behind them seem to be some buildings, old though familiar.

“Rome?” Dean asks to himself. He recognizes the a part of the Colosseum and the Pantheon, though they’re not exactly standing where they’re supposed to be standing. The couple is standing between the two buildings, giving neither of the two places any mind.

This sucks, because he literally has no idea what to do with that information. With the Colosseum being finished in the year 80, that makes it one year after the eruption of this town. After this mural was made, which is why the building doesn’t look exactly the way it’s supposed to look here. Still, Dean recognizes it enough to see the Colosseum in it.

With a grunt he makes half a turn, putting his hands up into his hair while he tries to make his brain work. Once he casts his eyes downwards he notices something underneath the bed.

A frown comes up on his face as he kneels down next to it. Carefully bending downwards, Dean finds something that looks like a notebook on the ground.

“You don’t look like you’ve been here two-thousand years,” Dean mumbles. Feeling the booklet in his hands, he figures that it’s at least a few hundred years old. Finding the letters on the cover to be Enochian he immediately realizes who it is he’s working with.

“Dee and Kelley,” Dean gets out. He opens the book, finding writings in it, luckily some of them in English. There are drawings, puzzles in there or at least any kind of hint for the next one. A small laugh comes out of him. It’s almost like a cheat code or something…

Dean had no idea the two actually traveled around the world to do this kind of research. He figured they would just stay at one spot and do their magic mumbo jumbo there.

He hears more noises coming from outside. With an annoying grunt he puts the journal into the inner pocket of his jacket, grabbing his flashlight from where he rested it and running towards the window.

Making sure that no light comes from the inside of the house, Dean checks over on the street, finding that a group of Jaune’s men are getting into the house. With the stairs gone it would win him some time, but not by much. Underneath the window there isn’t much to climb from. He should check out the other room.

Returning to the kid’s room, Dean almost stumbles over the broken toys on the ground. Nearly falling face-first onto the cot that’s supposed to be a bed, he finds some small sort of tablet on the ground. A stone, with Greek writings on it. A quick look to the side reminds him that he doesn’t have much time. Instead of looking it over further he just adds it into his pocket.

The only downside of it is that it makes his left a bit heavier. If he isn’t careful, it’s going to be a bitch for climbing.

Much to his glee there’s much more to go on from through the other window. With a quiet breath Dean licks his lips before wiping his hands together. A last look at the child’s room, and then he’s out, hanging on to a few loose rocks before leaning back and reaching for the balcony of the building across the street.

It’s climbing onto the roofs and hopping from one house to the other for a while. With it becoming a game of stealth, Dean stays put whenever there are people nearby and goes on when they’re far enough away.

For a moment it almost feels like he’s actually going to get out without being noticed.

That is, until the roof collapses.

It happens before Dean knows it. Jumping from one house to the next, Dean feels his feet go through the stone and then he’s falling. Rocks are rolling over him, dust and ashes coming up in the air and intruding into Dean’s lungs. While he’s coughing his airways free, he tries to get this pounding out of his head. It takes him too long to realize that there’s a light shining in his eyes.

“We found him!” he hears. Through his coughs, Dean grunts in annoyance, leaning forward on his knew while shaking his head.

“Son of a bitch,” he mutters, holding out his hand in a gesture for them to wait. One of the two men that found him look in confusion while the other grabs for some sort of walkie-talkie. Lifting it towards his mouth, Dean jumps into action. He punches him right in the throat, making the guy gag and make some godawful noises. The other one is at the verge of bringing up his gun before Dean kicks him in the stomach. He grabs for the weapon, pulling it out of his hand while bringing his elbow painfully into the other guy’s face. He hears something crack, and Dean’s pretty sure it’s the guy’s nose.

With that one down, he’s still stuck with the other one. At the danger of him alerting anybody, Dean grabs him by the hair and pulls his head back before putting it between his arm and body.

“You scream, and it’ll be your last breath,” Dean utters towards him. The guy huffs out a laugh, clearly unbelieving of that fact.

“Yeah, right. You’re weak, just like your parents. The fact that they couldn’t take a life was their downfall, in the end,” the guy taunts him. Dean shivers, really hoping that he’s just going to stand down. For a moment, he actually believes it.

He almost even lets the guy go, until he’s suddenly thrown on the ground, kicked in the face, and hears a voice call out.

“He’s here!” the guy shouts. Dean groans in pain before grabbing the gun and pointing it at the man’s back.

Because here’s the difference, after all: he’s not like his parents. Or, not like his mother. Because after she died, his father learned to do the hard stuff. And that’s exactly what he’s taught Dean, too.

So, with the gun, he manages to hit the guy right in the heart. And he’s not even feeling any regret for it because who in their right mind would even want to work for Jaune?

Or, at least that’s what he tells himself to keep the guilt at bay.

Finding himself breathless with a bloodied nose, Dean hides the gun away and crawls towards the other, unconscious guy to take his weapon, which turns out to be a shotgun. Not great for range, but Dean’s a beast with this weapon so he’ll manage.

He hears more footsteps coming his way. It’s better not to be stuck inside when they all come, so Dean hurries to the window, jumping out of it and taking cover behind the remnants of a chariot. The sound of a bullet racing right past his face is exhilarating, but not really in the good sense.

They shoot at random, having no real pattern which is logic since this isn’t one of those games Sammy loved to play. Each time Dean tries to look up another bullet nearly misses him. He needs to be quick and never miss his mark. At least he’s got enough bullets because the shotgun isn’t much help in this situation.

“How ‘bout instead of shooting we just have a nice talk, huh?” Dean shouts over the sounds of firing weapons.

“How ‘bout we bring that pretty head of yours to our boss? Don’t even need to drag along the body,” he gets in return from one very enthusiastic individual who seems extremely trigger-happy.

“I’m flattered, dude, but I’m afraid I don’t entirely go for your team. In league with douchebag demonic bosses is just such a gigantic turn-off, isn’t it?”

“Less talking, more shooting.”

Ah, well, that stops the banter. Dean risks looking over his shoulder one more time. He needs only a short second do aim the gun and hitting the sourpuss right in the face. The guy drops his arms, eyes and mouth fallen wide open before he falls down on the ground. In the time he’s touched down, Dean’s already aiming at the other one, hitting that one right in the chest. The guy falls backwards, not coming back up.

But there’s a whole lot more of them, and though with a lot of effort Dean takes care of them one by one. He gets some bullet grazes, but he’s never fully hit by one which seems like a miracle, really. Having now one particularly bloody cut on his forehead throws off his concentration, though.

But he’s approaching the exit. At least, that’s what he thinks. He figures he should make a run for it, use the shotgun to make himself a path. But as he thins out the group in front of him, he’s aware of the army cutting him off behind him. If he’s going to move, he needs to do it now.

He makes a run for it. Bullets are flying all around him, never hitting their mark. With the help of the many flares that Jaune’s men have thrown around at least he manages to see where he’s running towards.

Having shot the last bullet in the gun, Dean throws it aside before grabbing the shotgun. Then in just a matter of seconds Dean shoots towards the guy that thought he was sneaking up on him. He falls down on the ground, his weapon flying out of his hand. Dean catches it mid-air, pockets it into the holster he’s always wearing and continues his run.

Once he’s reached the beginning of the hidden tunnel, Dean takes a look at the city around him. Such a historical place, and all he’s left is carnage. Not a lot, but it’s a lot of history that’s being massacred by just bullets and stray grenades.

Dean sighs, wishing that one day he would just be able to find a lost city without causing destruction all over the place.

He vows to come back here one day, study it for good. But today’s not that day. So he runs, ignoring all the people still behind him. He goes through the hallway, even feels his ears pop at the change of altitude as he runs up the stairs. And by the time he gets to the main land and fresh air fills his lungs he realizes he was naïve.

Because there stands Jaune, a gun in his hand pointed at Athan who is kneeling on the ground with his hands on his head. The boy looks scared, sad, even, as he watches Dean arrive.

“Signor Winchester,” Athan whispers out.

“No…” Dean stops in his tracks, a shaky breath escaping his lungs.

“Look at what situation we’re finding ourselves into, now, right?” Jaune says, one corner of his mouth curling upward into a disgusting smirk. Dean still breathes heavily, gripping the shotgun tightly. At least the other gun is well enough hidden under his jacket, though he’s not sure he won’t be searched again. And this time he didn’t have anybody with him to divide their loot under. The moment they go through his pockets he’s lost everything he found.

“You let him go,” Dean bites at the man. “The kid has nothing to do with this.”

Jaune laughs, and isn’t that just the most disgusting sound in the world?

“That’s how it seems, right? Poor, innocent boy who was just at the wrong place at the wrong time? And to think that it’s _you_ who put him here in the end, huh?”

Dean stays quiet, wishing he didn’t have to see that terrified look on Athan’s face.

“Now angel-boy over here claims that you’ve found nothing in that underground city there. Of course, knowing you that’s a load of horse-crap. So, I offer you a deal.”

“Let me guess, whatever I found for his life?”

Jaune’s eyes almost seem to sparkle. Without pulling his gun away from Athan’s head, his other hand reaches for the yellow glasses and pulls them away.

“You got that right in one go. Smart boy.”

Dean squeezes his eyes shut. He doesn’t have a choice. Sure, taking down Jaune’s men isn’t that hard, but actually thinking about sacrificing some innocent Italian kid for the treasure? That’s not Dean’s style.

So Dean throws the shotgun aside, eyes never leaving Jaune. Then in his mind he tries to make a decision. Which is best to hand over? The journal? Or the tablet? Granted, he doesn’t want to let go of either of them but it’s one or the other.

It’s Jaune who makes the decision for him. Pointing towards the inside of Dean’s jacket, he’s got his eyebrows raised.

“Is that a notebook I see in there?”

Dean looks down, realizing that by holding his hands his inner pocket has become visible. Even the gun is right in his view, though that doesn’t seem to interest Azazel at all.

“Throw it over. And before you think about grabbing that little toy over there remember that I’ll be faster at pulling the trigger than you would be at aiming your gun.”

Cursing into himself, Dean takes out the journal and throws it Jaune’s direction. It lands on the ground, right in front of Athan who is shivering on the spot. Dean hates seeing him like this.

“Is that everything?”

“Of course.”

“Now, don’t lie to me. I’m sure you realize I can have my men search you at any time.”

Resisting the urge to throw his head back, Dean is at the point of taking out he tablet as well. That is, until he hears a shot being fired, and sees Jaune taking a step back in bewilderment. As red starts to come up on Jaune’s clothes, Athan jumps to the side, throwing all his weight on Jaune so that he falls down. With all of Jaune’s men scattered around in their panic for their wounded leader, Athan grabs the book off the ground and runs back in Dean’s direction.

“We must leave,” he tells him. Dean looks at him with wide eyes before nodding. He snatches the shotgun off the ground and gets back on his feet, only to bump up against one of Jaune’s men who’s trying to stop him. He clocks him hard in the face until he falls down. Then he starts running.

It’s too late when he realizes that the weight in his left pocket is gone. Another look backwards gives him the view of Jaune – who has just been shot for crying out loud, why is he walking around? – taking the tablet off the ground. The evil smirk Dean gets gives him shivers.

“Signor Winchester we must go _now_!”

Dean nods, hating the fact that he has to leave it behind. He follows Athan into the dark streets, aware of police sirens filling the air. People that are wandering go towards the source of the gunshots, though Dean and Athan try to get as far away of it as possible.

They get pulled into an alleyway without warning. Right when Dean’s about to throw a punch, he finds Sam grabbing his arms and pulling him into a hug.

“Shit, Dean, are you insane? Going on your own like that? I thought we were a team!”

Dean doesn’t speak. He just holds on to Sam, breathless and afraid to let go.

“Don’t _ever_ do that again, you hear me?!”

Dean then nods. When he pulls away he finds Novak standing there as well. Dean can’t even find it in himself to be annoyed at that fact. He leans forward, resting his hands on his knees while he tries to catch his breath.

“Who fired the shot?” he asks in between panting.

“I did,” Sam answers. Dean chuckles, slapping his arm twice before actually slapping him harder.

“Are you out of your mind? He could have shot the kid!”

“No he wouldn’t, because I signaled the kid to duck when nobody was watching,” Sam counters like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Athan nods.

“Si,” he says. “Far away, I saw him do this.” Athan points down with his hand to indicate the gesture, until he realizes that he’s still holding on to the journal. He then hands it back to Dean.

“Thank you.”

“Prego.”

“Who’s pregnant?”

“Dean!”

 

As it turns out, Athan called Sam the moment he got upstairs. Before he was discovered by Jaune, who caught him and threatened to kill him if he didn’t surrender, which Athan did because he’s just a kid who knows jack shit about defending himself.

Dean’s glad that the boy’s alive. The sight of Athan’s terrified eyes is something he’d rather have burned out of his memory, but he figures he can’t be too picky.

After making sure that Athan is in a safe place, the three return to the hotel. After all, Dean’s got a few bullet grazes that need to be looked after, along with a few cuts he gained from falling through a roof.

“It’s incredible,” Novak says for what must be the tenth time as he goes through the booklet Dean found. The man hisses when his brother passes another antiseptic wipe across a wound, resisting the urge to slap him by taking another swing from his beer.

“Hush, you big baby. It’s your own fault for going out on your own like that.” Sam’s voice is shaky. Dean’s biggest regret about this entire evening is the fact that his little brother still didn’t manage to catch up on his sleep. With it being nearly morning, it’s probably no use at all to get back to sleep.

“Well, at least I managed to make the Doctor happy, I suppose,” Dean says while nodding towards the man in question, who flips another page with clear euphoria in his voice.

“Do you have any idea what this means?” Novak asks, and Dean shrugs.

“Not really. Half of it is written in Enochian and the other half is just shit about puzzles.” Sam binds another wound on his arm before moving to the one on his forehead. Now this one is going to sting like a bitch. Dean takes another large swing and grits his teeth together in preparation.

“This means that, after Rudolf the Second supposedly imprisoned Kelley for a lack of results, it was actually a lie. Kelley was sent to Herculaneum, he was studying the symbol as well, thought it would contain the secret of the philosopher stone.”

“Wait, isn’t that from Harry Potter?” Sam moves his hand away from the nasty wound on Dean’s face, much to his relief.

“Yes, it is,” Castiel agrees. “Though it was always said that Dee and Kelley thought the Stone would help create gold, this journal tells us that he was withholding the truth from the Emperor.”

Dean hisses. “Yikes, I don’t think the old man liked that when he found out.”

“No, he didn’t.” Novak dives back into the book. “Though Kelley must have lost the book at that house. His last entry is about this mural you’ve spoken about.”

“Oh, I’m all ears.” Sam pinches him in the arm, Dean slaps him back.

“It just says: ‘the answer lies at the Angel’s shoulder’,” Novak reads out loud with a pensive look on his face. “That sounds extremely vague and rather unhelpful.”

“No, wait.” Dean jumps away from Sam’s stupid first aid kit and gets his camera from his jacket. It’s a miracle the damn thing survived. He quickly takes the connection cable from his bag before opening his brother’s laptop. “Start this thing up, will you?”

Sam looks at him, clearly unimpressed, before he obliges. Once the computer has booted up, Dean connects the camera at last. He goes through the few pictures that he’s taken before finding the right one.

“Look at that. Had you taken a picture of that tablet as well, you would have reached a ‘perfect’ score on the subject of treasure hunting,’ Sam jokes. Dean throws a pen his way, which Sam deflects easily.

“Stop being such a bitch,” Dean calls out.

“You first, jerk.”

Dean ignores it further, zooming in on the picture and pointing towards Cassia’s shoulder.

“You see, at first I thought it was between them; exactly in the middle of these two buildings,” Dean points out. After that he opens up the web browser and pulls up a map of Rome. There he marks the locations of both the Pantheon and the Colosseum.

“It would seem like that, yes,” Novak agrees as he approaches the screen to have a better look. Dean tries not to think of how much too close this guy is standing to him right now. This is not the time.

“But here’s Cassia’s shoulder,” Dean says while pulling up the picture again, this time pointing at the marked shoulder of the supposed Archangel. “Which is _not_ in the middle.”

Sam chuckles bitterly. “So, what, the place we need to go to is just _slightly_ a bit closer to the Pantheon? How the hell are we going to find anything like that?”

It’s just a short moment of thought. “We just need to find holy ground.” Then Dean goes back to the map, leaning forward towards the screen and looking around on the map for a bit.

“Like the Temple of Cassia?” Novak leans forward as well, the book shortly forgotten on his lap. Dean nods.

“Yes, exactly. Just some church or temple or anything that stands _between_ the Colosseum and the Pantheon.” Dean lets the mouse pass over the map while he tries to figure this out.

“Do you have any idea just how many churches there are in Rome?”

“More than 900,” Novak offers uselessly. Dean ignores it, again.

“Right, that means that nearly every step you take you risk on getting on holy ground. There’s no way to just pinpoint one exact location?”

“Acually, I think I got it.” Dean’s finger is resting on a spot on the map before he looks back up with a small smile on his face.

“What?” Sam sounds surprised as he approaches his brother to look along. Dean’s finger, which is resting on a specific church that’s closer to the Pantheon than the Colosseum, and lies between the two of them.

“The Church of the Angels?” Novak asks. “That church has been built in the 1500’s? It wasn’t standing there for long enough to contain anything regarding the symbol?”

“That is, unless it’s built _over_ something.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:   
> \- Crude interpretation of ancient history   
> \- video-game like scene  
> \- Dean actually shoots (and kills) people like Nate does in the Uncharted Games


	8. Chiesa Degli Angeli

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean stumbled upon an ancient lost city underground, but was ambushed by Azazel Jaune's men. After finding a lead that brings him to Italy, the three are on the way again to find answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope people are enjoying the story. I'm probably fishing for comments, but I doalways enjoy feedback like I do a christmas present ^^ 
> 
> Also, this church doesn't exist. I made it up after I spent days trying to find any kind of church that could help me out in the story, until I eventually discovered that it was better to just make one up.

 

She’s there again. Her hands are on her lap, her back straight and amusement clear on her young face. She’s the most beautiful thing Dean’s ever seen in his life. Her hair’s put up neatly, a crown of flowers on her head. The neighbor’s kids made it for her. They told her she looked like a princess.

At least, that’s how Dean imagines she’s got the crown.

“Hello, my love,” Cassia says, once again in a language Dean isn’t supposed to know, yet he does.

“Cassia?” he asks. A smirk appears on her lips, her dark eyes finding his.

“The name is rather amusing to hear.” She lowers her gaze before getting up. In graceful steps, she gets to where Dean is apparently sitting. He hadn’t realized he wasn’t standing. When he feels her hand on his cheek, he leans into her touch.

“Man, you wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had,” Dean groans out.

“Oh? Tell me?”

 _Well, I found an underground city, just ashes and bones of what remains of Herculaneum, before I was chased and nearly killed by the guy who murdered my mother._ That’s what Dean intents to say. Instead, something else comes out of his mouth.

“Ydimis’ children found out that chasing chickens is the most amazing thing in the world. I’ve spent almost an entire hour getting them to stop, only to then search for the chicken again.”

Cassia chuckles. She sits down on his lap before kissing his cheek. Dean feels confused. Wait, what’s happening?

“You love children,” the woman reminds him.

“They’re a menace,” Dean returns without knowing why.

“But you still love them.”

The two start laughing before kissing each other deeply on the lips. They take deep breaths through their noses, Dean’s eyes closed as his hands go up into her hair.

“I might maybe make an exception for one or two kids,” he admits once he pulls back. Cassia’s white teeth nearly blind him from how bright they are. Dean sighs, cupping the woman’s cheek as he takes in her beauty.

“I’ll make sure to remember that.” Cassia leans down once again, stealing another kiss. When Dean’s at the verge of returning it, some sort of grumbling pulls him out of it. His eyes automatically turn to the side, where he knows is the direction of the large mountain.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Dean mumbles. Cassia just sighs next to him.

“It’s time.” She gets off his lap and pats his cheek one more time before turning around. Her steps lead towards the back door, but Dean still manages to grab her hand before she can go.

“It’s time for what?”

“For you to wake up.”

And as if he’s falling, Dean’s pulled away from the brightly lit environment around him. Instead, he’s suddenly inside a tight seat, his head against the window, which is making some rumbling noises from the bad roads.

That’s right. They’re on their way to Rome. Sam is next to him, driving with a since-long empty cup of coffee in the holder that they left since yesterday. In the back lies Dr. Novak, who seems to have just woken up as well. The guy looks equally disoriented as Dean feels, which is a little bit comforting.

“Sorry, the roads are horrible,” Sam apologizes. “Didn’t mean to wake you up. We still got about two hours to go, I think.”

Dean rubs his eyes and shakes his head.

“Man, can we make a quick stop?”

“What, toilet break?” Sam’s eyes shortly go off the road to meet Dean’s, but he quickly changes his mind and focuses back on what he should be focusing on.

“No, no, just need to stretch my legs.”

In the reflection of the mirror he can see Novak squirm in his seat as well.

“I’ll have to agree with your brother there. I could use a little walk.”

Sam sighs but then nods. “Alright, fine, but if you’re pulling me out of my driving-buzz, somebody else better take the wheel after this. And who-ever it is, I’m getting the backseat. I could use some sleep, too.”

Dean shrugs. He thinks he can manage the next hour or so.

Man, who knew Italy was so big? The landscapes around him seem so endless, vineyards and fields surrounding them in between the mountains in between the cities. This is where those rom-cons Lisa loved to watch would happen.

Sam stops at what seems like a viewing point. The tires drive on the gravel, making noise underneath them. Once Sam kills the engine, Dean can’t get out of the vehicle quickly enough.

“We can’t linger for too long. There’s a strong chance that Jaune’s men figured the mural out as well.”

Sam makes a good point, but Dean really doesn’t want to get back into that car so quickly. The fact that he hasn’t slept at all this night doesn’t help. The adrenaline of being chased and nearly killed makes it difficult to relax, after all. Dozing off in the car is pretty much a miracle for him at this point.

“Relax, man, I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Dean reaches his hand up to his forehead and starts walking towards the lookout. With a view of the city underneath them, Dean takes in the sight in a whole different perspective.

What would this exact spot have looked like two-thousand years ago?

“What’s that city underneath us?” Dean asks when he hears somebody come up to him.

“Cassino,” he hears Novak answer. A shiver goes through Dean’s body, but he tries to mask it. He refuses to look away from the beautiful view in front of him. When suddenly he sees a hand point at something in the corner of his eye, he tries to catch where it’s pointing at. “There’s the Abbazia di Montecassino.”

Way above them is indeed a large building, like some sort of institute or something. Dean whistles, impressed by the sight.

“Man, how do you know all this stuff?”

Novak shrugs. “Years of studying, I suppose.”

“See, I just don’t get that.” Dean finally turns his head around to see the sharp profile of Dr. Novak. His eyes don’t seem to dare to meet his, but Dean’s fine with that. The man is in need of a shave, with dark circles under his eyes and a worry in his expression.

“What don’t you get, Mr. Winchester?” Novak’s voice is still low, as if it’s straining for him to talk out loud.

“You’re, what, almost thirty? How could you even have had the time to study everything you’ve studied? How many languages do you know? Religions? And now even random architectural places? You even know the bible by head, for crying out loud. Normally people are around sixty when they know even half of the shit you know.”

“If I didn’t know better, Mr. Winchester, I would say it sounded like you’re accusing me for actually being a – what do people call it these days? – a nerd in my college years?”

Oh, yeah, it’s obvious that Novak is tired of his shit. Is this the time where he’s put things too far?

“I guess I just don’t trust people with secrets,” Dean mutters in return. A sharp intake of breath comes at his side before Novak starts laughing bitterly.

“Well, it’s not like you’ve told me everything there is to know about you, is it?”

Dean doesn’t respond. Instead he looks back down at the city in front of them with his lips pressed together to keep his mouth shut. Eventually, Novak starts moving again. His footsteps become duller the further he goes, and the moment he’s far enough away Dean relaxes a bit on the spot.

Eventually he takes the camera from the pocket in his jacket and points it at the landscape in front of him. After taking the picture, he looks back at the previous photos he’s made. There’s the ones from the buried city, but before that there’s also the one from back at the palace in Prague.

It’s Novak, in front of the Rudolf-painting. The man looks annoyed, despite their by-then current need to act like they were having the time of their lives. Still, Dean finds himself smiling upon that sight. It’s rather funny to see him so grumpy.

“Hey, Dean, we headin’ out again?”

Dean puts the camera away and takes one last look at the city of Cassino underneath them before he nods. Then he runs back to the rental car they’ve gotten themselves. Pulling out the map, he gestures for his brother to look along.

“Tell me where we are?” he asks. Sam rolls his eyes.

“Dude, we’ve got GPS. In fact, the address is still on.” Sam points towards the car where that infernal device is put up. Dean grumbles a bit.

“Whatever. Since that’s Cassino, I suppose we’re around this area here.” Dean points at a spot near Cassino. “There we have that Montecassino-place, so it’s this way to go.”

“Are you alright to drive? I wouldn’t mind taking the wheel for a while,” Novak suggests as Dean folds the map back up.

“Hell, no. I barely trust my brother behind the wheel. You just hold on to that map and make sure that GPS-crap doesn’t send us the wrong way.”

“I highly doubt that-“

“Save it, Castiel. He won’t be convinced.” Sam is smiling. Dean glares at his brother.

“Enough talking, let’s drive.”

And sure enough, no time later Dean’s behind the wheel, Novak next to him while Sam is taking the entire back seat to doze off. In only a matter of minutes does he start snoring lightly. Dean’s really impressed at how easily he can be pulled away from being awake.

“What do you suppose happened with Cassiel and their partner?” Novak asks after nearly twenty minutes of silence. The sun is getting into its highest position, meaning that it’s nearly noon.

“Wha- the archangel? Dude, that’s just a story.”

“How do you-?”

“It’s probably just the Christians that twisted some form of Greek legend into their own shit. Obviously, there are no real Angels. I mean, can you even prove that they are real?”

“Can you prove that they aren’t?” Novak counters.

“Hey, man-“

“No, seriously, Mr. Winchester. I’ve been in many debates like this one before. Because as people like you stand there, accusing others of believing in something that supposedly isn’t real, we still haven’t had some actual genuine proof that _religion_ is in fact a bunch of ‘horse-shit’.”

Dean frowns. “People like me? You mean people who aren’t idiots?”

“You have your views, I have mine.”

“Yeah, yours contains an old guy with a beard in the sky and little flying babies with bows and arrows and wings.”

Castiel almost literally growls next to Dean. “That is such a stereotypical thing to say.”

“Yeah, and I stand by it.” Dean squeezes the steering wheel tightly with his fingers while not removing his eyes from the road. “This whole legend we’re chasing is just some random chick who fell in love and happened to know the right way out of Herculaneum when they needed an escape. There’s no way she was actually an Angel that zapped them all out of there.”

Novak doesn’t respond. He’s probably tired of the argument already, which means Dean won. A self-satisfied smirk grows onto his lips, knowing that he’s cornered Novak like that. Another look into the mirror shows him that Sam is still fast asleep, which is good. He knows the guy would have thrown his usual bitch-stare at him.

But then he catches the look on Novak’s face; discomfort, unsettled, maybe even sadness. It eats at Dean without him even knowing why. Novak’s an ass, so why is he suddenly feeling sorry for him?

“Shouldn’t you be staring at the road?” Novak grits out after a while. Dean clears his throat before doing so, indeed.

“Hey, man… sorry for… always giving you shit.”

Surprise appears in Novak’s expression. His eyes widen, mouth slightly falling open.

“It’s just… we’re clearly very different people. But that doesn’t give me the right for being a jerk all the time…”

He can’t believe himself. What is he actually doing? Apologizing to Novak? That’s not what he wants to do, or is it? He doesn’t even know anymore.

“Thank you,” Novak eventually says. Then after a few minutes of silence he continues. “And about your comment earlier… I’m not thirty, by the way. Twenty-six…”

“No way, from 1979?”

“Yes.”

Dean chuckles. “Then I guess we’re the same age.”

Novak doesn’t respond, but when Dean catches a glimpse of him in the corner of his eye, he can see the man looking down with a pleased smile on his face. Dean shakes his head, figuring it’s not that big of a deal.

The rest of the drive goes without a hitch. In about one hour and half, Dean finally enters the city of Rome. There’s a lot of traffic, bus tours and just people walking around wearing coats and scarves. It might not be tourist season, but people still seem to love making a city trip in here.

“So, what, I stop at a hotel first? Or we just go straight to the church?”

Novak seems unsure about the answer. When Sam doesn’t say anything, Dean reaches back to poke him in the side. His little brother almost jumps off the couch as he startles.

“Dude, stop that!”

Dean just grins. “Hotel or church, what first?”

As Sam rubs his eyes and yawns, Novak pulls up the map once more to search for nearby hotels. It’s good that they managed to snatch a map in a nearby gas station a few minutes earlier. They have the map of Italy, but a more detailed view of Rome itself could be helpful.

“I dunno, we got a lot of stuff so maybe hotel?”

“Alright, the kid has spoken; hotel it is!”

Novak laughs at Dean’s comment before pulling up the map, pointing at a place close to the church they could go to.

“Hey, I’m not a kid,” Sam grumbles in annoyance.

The hotel Novak managed to find isn’t the cheapest, but it’s at least not super expensive. After dropping their stuff in one room (they have to save at least a little bit of money instead of renting two rooms all the time) they put on their warm clothes, hiking shoes and head out to the streets.

Novak manages to guide the way well enough. All they need to do is head right until they’re on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II street, and then it’s just forward to the church. Once they get there, they find that there’s also a hotel right in front of the building, but they shouldn’t push their luck. Being too close to it would mean being found easier. They can’t risk being followed by Jaune’s men once again.

“Say, you think Jaune’s out of the picture for now?”

Dean faces his brother after the question, finding a conflicted look on the man’s face as he finishes the sentence.

“Sorry?”

“I mean, I shot him right in the chest. I know I’m not as good at aiming as you are, but I’m pretty sure I’ve hit at least one vital organ. So they probably sent him to the hospital right away, no?”

But Dean remembers well enough how, despite the blood filling the man’s shirt completely, he still managed to smirk at Dean while picking up that tablet from the ground. It seems impossible, after a hit like that, to just walk around.

“I don’t know, man, maybe he was wearing something bulletproof? He didn’t seem very dead when we ran off.”

“I fear losing Jaune will be a far more difficult challenge than you would think,” Novak mutters lowly. Dean has to agree with that statement. Didn’t his father try to deal with him in the past? Obviously that never worked out. And look at them now; they’re just chasing after the guy, who obviously figured all of this out without them and has a massive head start.

“Dean, what’s wrong?” he hears Sam ask as a hand holds on to his arm.

“It’s just… I don’t understand what Dad expects from us here? It doesn’t seem like he wants us to follow him, but then he left that clue at the Prague Palace and… I don’t know, man.”

Sam chuckles, then. “Wow, I had actually forgotten about Dad…” He puts a hand on his forehead while he casts his eyes downwards.

“Dude, you serious?” Despite knowing that he should be annoyed by that, Dean starts laughing. The three stop in their steps once they come to stand in front of the church. From the front, it doesn’t seem much like one, instead just appearing like an old building.

“Is this it?” Novak, who puts the map away, nods.

“Yes,” he returns.

“So, what’s so special about this church?”

“Well, it was built in 1584 by a certain Gadreel di Angelo. The man had the idea that he was descended from the Angels and set up this church to worship them. Claimed that his connection to the Angels was stronger here.”

“So, Angels again. I suppose we _could_ be in the right place.”

“Well, most people describe this church as an optical illusion. You see, from the outside one wouldn’t exactly say it is a church, right?”

“Right.” Dean takes in the pale building in front of them. It looks more like some sort of old city hall of a tiny little village or something. Not at all does it look like it’s been built in the late 1500’s.

“Then, once you get inside, the first thing you’ll see about the ceiling is a dome. But when you look from the outside, you won’t see one. The ceiling is, in fact, flat.”

“So we all agree that this church definitely has something to do with our Cassia?” Dean looks at Sam and Novak before turning back to the church. Sam lets out a deep breath while Novak puts his hand sin his pockets as he speaks up.

“So it would seem.” Novak then puts up a little smile. “Although we should watch what we’re saying in there. If Di Angelo is to be believed, the Angels could be listening.”

Dean frowns at him. His brother seems equally confused about Novak’s remark.

“I was joking...” Novak looks a bit sheepishly, clearly embarrassed that neither brother seems to grasp his sense of humor.

“Alright, chuckles. Let’s just get inside.” Dean keeps himself from rolling his eyes. Without further thought he pats Novak on the chest before he gets himself to the entrance of the church. Sam chuckles quietly before following Dean.

There aren’t too many people inside, which is good. Given that it’s far out of tourist-season, the place isn’t crawling with foreigners that just want to take pictures of everything.

“So, how do we do this?” Dean asks once they’ve entered the church fully. His eyes are cast upwards, to the dome-like ceiling Novak mentioned. His eyes seriously deceive him, because to him it doesn’t look flat at all.

“I suggest we split up, each search an area and call for each other when we find it?” Sam suggests. Dean has to agree on that strategy. He gestures to where he’ll go before assigning the others their spot. When everybody knows where they need to go, Dean makes a full turn and steps towards the altar. It’s not until a few hours for the next sermon, so the altar is unoccupied. There are a few people seated on the benches, though while half of them seem to be praying, the other half is just reading up on some brochure about the place.

Baroque, that’s how Dean would describe this place. Though by the altar it seems to go to neo-classical in the pediment. It’s supported by four columns, and on top of it there are two angels kneeling. In fact, there are a lot of angels, most of them smaller than the first two. Then, finally, there’s one larger Angel in the middle of the collums. This one is looking up to the other Angels, their hands held out as if they’re trying to reach out to somebody. Dean doesn’t need to be closer to figure out who that’s supposed to be.

Cassiel. Or Cassia. Even from this far away he can recognize her face.

There are two more angels on the side, though this time golden colored ones. On the ceiling there’s a large painting that represents the people and angels looking down from above. All of their eyes seem to be focused on Cassia, including the ones from the other statues.

At each side of the complete altar there’s a door. They’re closed, but given the separation-line, Dean wouldn’t have been able to go over there, anyway. He takes a turn, trying to catch his brother and Novak. On his right he can see Sam at one of the chapels. Dean can only shortly catch him getting inside before he disappears from view. Then he turns towards Novak, who is at his left and seems to be observing something with a frown.

Figuring that there’s nothing much he can get from the altar at this point, he heads in Novak’s direction, clearing his throat to get his attention. Novak doesn’t startle, but just nods towards him.

“This church, apparently it was built over another church,” Novak admits. He points at a plate he was reading up on. Dean walks up to it and catches the words, only to find that they’re in Italian.

“They don’t have English translations?”

Novak shrugs before gesturing his hand to the side. “Somewhere there, but some idiots wrote over it with a permanent marker, which made it impossible for me to read.”

Dean rolls his eyes. “What did you find?”

“Well, in the early 1500’s there stood a church here. Nothing much is known about it since it wasn’t being used anymore. People thought it was haunted so nobody dared to go inside.”

“Why did people think it was haunted?” Dean asks. He can’t at all make out the words written down. He might know a bit of Spanish, but that’s about it. Italian doesn’t even come close.

“Because there used to be a cold spot near the entrance of the church. Legends would say that it’s the Devil awaiting their next victim. Other reasons are apparently the fact that people would go inside and see very different things.”

That could mean anything, really. “What would they see?”

Novak shrugs. “A worn-down church to one person, the other would see a fully decorated and clean building, as if it was still being taken care of while in fact nobody ever came in there. There was only _one_ thing that all these appearances had in common. A symbol.”

“Let me guess, our symbol?”

Novak shrugs while he points at the place where the symbol was supposed to stand. “I’m afraid I can’t say. Somebody taped something over it and drew a hand pointing out its middle finger instead. I can’t make out the symbol anymore.”

Dean rolls his eyes. People don’t have any more respect for culture these days. Even as he tries to scrape off the piece of tape, he finds easily enough that he won’t succeed. Whatever these kids used is pretty strong shit. Dean then sighs before shaking his head.

“So besides that, we don’t know anything about the church that stood here before?”

Novak looks down on the plate once again before pointing his finger at a few Italian words Dean can’t read.

“Nothing of the name, but only that Di Angelo felt like the Church was just a way of the Angels to communicate with us. He supposedly ‘heard the Angels talk’ about how the previous church was built by a traitor, and that it needed to be taken down.”

“Guy must have been fun at parties.”

Dean looks inside the little chapel. The gate is closed though he’s not too surprised about that. He leans forward a bit to look on the inside. There are more paintings up there, more Angels everywhere. The few statues of them are all in the appearance of little cherubs. There’s one larger statue of a man in a long gown with wings and a sword in hand. Novak points at it.

“That is Michael, the strongest Archangel of them all.” Dean’s heard about him. Michael was his mother’s favorite Angel, always telling him that _he_ was watching over Dean, that he was Dean’s personal guardian. Dean never believed much of it after her death, obviously.

“That sword?” Dean points at the weapon.

“The Michael Sword. Supposedly the only weapon that could defeat his brother Lucifer.”

Dean nods. He knows about the fallen Archangel turned Devil. His mother used to say this thing all the time about it. About being careful who to trust, because the Devil was an Angel once, too. Dean always takes that advice to heart, which is why he figures he’s taken such a long time to trust Novak. He still doesn’t fully trust him, too. It’s still too vague to him why Novak’s here.  

But, he’s useful. And as long as Dean is prepared for it, he thinks he can deal with any possible betrayal.

They step away from the chapel eventually when they realize there isn’t much else to see. The few people that were inside are starting to walk out. Nobody else comes in, so Dean takes that opportunity to head back to the altar.

“Mr. Winchester, what are you doing?” Novak asks with a hissing voice. Dean waves him off.

“Looking for clues I couldn’t find before,” he says. He jumps over the chain and walks up the stairs of the little stage. Ignoring the altar, he heads straight for the statue of Cassia. Before he knows it, his hands are touching the sculpture’s arms. He automatically searches for the symbol on her shoulder, finding that it’s indeed there.

He smirks, nodding towards Novak to follow him. The man, in, turn, hesitates.

“We are not supposed to be there, Mr. Winchester,” he counters.

“Ah, c’mon, there’s nobody here,” Dean returns. His hand goes over the statue’s shoulder, skin making contact with the symbol right before he hears a click. Surprised, he jumps back, bumping up against the altar and finding it moving.

“What the-?” he asks in confusion. As the altar moves closer to the statue, he can see Novak’s eyes opening up in wonder.

By the time Dean’s back on his feet, the altar has completely moved to the side, revealing a stairway leading downstairs into a dark sort of corridor. The way there’s cobwebs and dust everywhere makes it clear that it’s been centuries since anybody has been here.

“Okay things need to stop appearing whenever I touch this symbol,” Dean mutters, looking at his hand in confusion. It can’t be that people haven’t accidentally touched that shoulder while cleaning the place, right?

“I’ll get your brother,” Novak says, though there’s something in his voice that admits that he’s not too pleased with them going into restricted areas. Dean resists the urge to roll his eyes; if he wants to be in the business of treasure-hunting he needs to get used to breaking the rules a couple of times.

Taking out his flashlight, Dean shines it down on the secret entrance, though there’s nothing much he can see. He tries to listen, but there’s no sound. Nothing that indicates that there’s _anybody_ in there. Great, at least they won’t be disturbed. He hopes…

“Alright, I’m here,” Sam says once he’s joined them. “I didn’t have much luck on my side, but I see that you did?”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s just head down these stairs, okay?”

Sam snorts, gesturing for Novak to go ahead before he follows them down.


	9. The Catacombs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year and stuff

Dean wonders whether there used to ever be a code amongst architects to design underground hallways with the same eerie and dangerous look. The walls are grey, filled with cobwebs connected to the ceiling. On the floor they even come across some carcasses of dead mice, though Dean’s seen worse to be put off by that.

His mind goes back to the underground city of Herculaneum, which must have been the biggest archeological find in years, and yet the idea of going to the press with it hasn’t even occurred him. It’s saddening to think that such a historical piece has been touched by the bullets and explosions of Jaune’s men. For supposed treasure hunters, the guy doesn’t seem too bothered on keeping everything intact.

“You think dad came down here as well?” Dean hears Sam ask behind him. The younger Winchester is walking in the back, his hand touching the surface of the wall as if he needs to do that to make sure that it’s still there.

“It’s possible,” Dean returns. He’s not too sure, anymore. After all, how could John have figured this all out by himself? Did he find himself his own Enochian expert somewhere? “Say, Doc, are there other people that understand Enochian?”

Novak grunts. “A few who have studied the language, though nobody has yet managed to master it.”

“Except for you.” It’s a statement, not a question. He catches the glance Novak throws his way.

“It’s impossible to know the entire language, Mr. Winchester. I’ve told you that before.”

Dean huffs out a breath before moving forward. Once they get to the end of the hallway, they find two possible directions; through the door right in front of them, or going right in the turn where even more darkness seems to await them.

“Let’s just see what’s inside,” Dean suggests and the two others nod. Much to Dean’s pleasant surprise, the door opens. He grins as he walks inside, quickly followed by Novak and Sam, who closes the door behind him just to be safe. The entrance to the stairway did close behind them, but one could never know if Jaune is able to follow them here.

The room they’ve found themselves in looks like a grave room. There are tombs surrounding them, gravestones with Italian inscriptions on them. None of the names tell him anything.

“These say anything to you, Doc?”

But Novak shakes his head. He goes through the graves, his lips pressed together while he searches for any clues. Dean finds that he can’t look away from his face, in a way fascinated by just how much the guy is concentrated. There’s still this sense of familiarity that unsettles him in a way, though how that is has yet to be explained by him.

“Guys, check this,” Sam suddenly calls out. He’s kneeled down next to what seems to be a skeleton holding something in its hands. The other two hurry towards him, taking in the body on the floor. It’s leaning against one of the graves, jeweled and wearing what must have been expensive gowns. In its hand is a book, looking old and untouched for many centuries.

When Sam takes it and opens it, he chuckles in relief.

“It’s in English,” he says. His flashlight shines on the paper. Dean and Novak kneel down next to him as they listen. “It’s from that Gadreel-guy.”

“What’s it say?”

“Okay, uhm.” Sam clears his throat before he begins. “’November 21st, 1581. I spoke to the Angels today. At least, that’s what I think I’ve done. I heard them in my head, telling me things about a traitor of Heaven. About how there’s a building that worships said traitor and I need to find out everything in there. I’ve tried to tell my wife about it, but she said that I was crazy. She begged me to stop talking about it. I don’t want to scare her, but I’m sure that I’m right. I’m sure that I’ve been chosen by Heaven to carry on their task.’”

“Guy sounds crazy, indeed,” Dean mumbles in between. Sam glares at him for interrupting.

“’January 15, 1582. I found the church the Angels were telling me about. We’ve moved to Rome, supposedly for research. I’ve never mentioned the Angels again to my wife, which is why she agreed to come with me. But she should never know that my research is this. It’s going after the building the Angels say is dangerous. And they’re right. I’ve talked to people all around. They all said that the building is haunted, cursed. Some people go inside and see the abandoned church that it is. Some others, though few of them they are, see the church as it once was in its glory days. The Angels say that the church holds information on where the traitors are. And that I need to find out what that information is. I think I’ll have to see what this church is about before I start looking further’.

“’January 16, 1582. I’ve been in the church. I believe I’m one of the few who couldn’t see the church the way it is. From the inside it looked beautiful. It’s full of clean, artistic statues of Angels. Right at the altar, there’s one particular beautiful one. At least, I thought it was beautiful, but the Angels seem certain that this one is the traitor they’re trying to find. I’ve looked all around the church, but there was no information lingering around. There was only a symbol on the Angel’s shoulder. THE symbol. I’ve wondered all my life what it was about, and I feel like I might get an answer if I follow down this path. I’ll need to search this place inch by inch, find out everything there is to find out about it. And then I’ll make a new church. One where the Angels can be worshipped as they should be. A true house of God.’”

Dean gets back on his feet, taking a few steps when he finds himself getting a bit restless.

“I mean, not that it’s not interesting, but could we maybe skip a few things? We’re gonna still be here by tomorrow if this keeps on.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Sam mutters. He skips a few pages, getting towards the end. Before he speaks he clears his throat once again. “’May 2nd, 1590. They lied. They spoke about a traitor of Heaven, but they never explained what happened. I didn’t know it was love that made the Angel decide to fall. And now I’ve destroyed whatever was left of her, just because I blindly followed their command. The fact that I even managed to get down here is indication enough that I’m connected in all this in more ways than I would imagine. But that’s the point, because I’m down here, and they aren’t. And the moment I get back upstairs, they’ll come after me. They already got to my wife, my son. If they get me, after what I’ve found, they’ll find Cassiel, and they’ll destroy her. The secret must die with me. It has to. The symbol is what we have in common, and others will follow. Hopefully, they’ll be better off than me. Hopefully, they’ll get further’.”

Sam takes another deep breath before looking up again.

“That’s it, the final entry.” He closes the book, getting onto his feet with a low grunt.

“So, Gadreel discovered something down here and decided that it was important enough to die for?” Novak sounds confused, which is exactly how Dean is feeling. Without thinking too much about it, he pokes Novak on the shoulder.

“Looks like it,” he tells him. Novak squints his eyes together before smiling at him.

“Yeah, but what?” Sam wonders. “What did this guy supposedly find out? What does he have to do with the symbol?”

“Maybe he had the mark as well?” Dean suggests, his hand going up to the place where his is. His fingers go over the bumps on his skin where the brand is etched.

“I mean, is that even possible? Is it like some sort of birth mark that gets passed along through families?”

Nobody has the answer. Novak’s eyes are stuck to the ground, while Dean tries to search for answers in his brother’s intense stare. He wishes he could just explain everything, figure it all out. But he can’t. And that’s exactly the reason why his parents took this case years ago. To find out the truth. To find out why the peculiar mark is put on Dean’s skin, where it originates from.

“That would insinuate that this guy here is our ancestor, no?” Dean points out while gesturing to the bones on the ground. “I mean, he wrote in English, so it’s safe to say that he might not have been from here.”

“Yeah, but he said that ‘they’ got to his wife and kid. I doubt there’s any legacy left from him.” Sam scratches his hair as he thinks. Dean could really use a coffee right now. Instead he grabs a bottle of water from Novak’s backpack and drinks half of it before handing it back to the Doctor, who finishes it wordlessly.

“I suggest we keep on looking. If this guy found something out in here, he’s bound to have found more, no?”

Everybody agrees, and they get back out of the door. Taking the turn to the right now, Dean finds himself wondering just how far these hallways reach. It can’t be that this is still underneath the church, right?

They arrive at an open space with a couple of statues standing on random places. Each one seems to represent another Angel, though there are only two that Dean recognizes; Gabriel holding a horn, Michael with the sword.

There are others; one holding a harp, another with a book in hand, one with a bow and arrow, a scythe, and finally one holding a flower. Just when Dean is about to open up his mouth to ask, Novak beats him to it.

“There’s Gabriel and Michael,’ he confirms Dean’s suspicions, following by the one with the harp, book, bow, scythe and flower respectively. “Balthazar, Metatron, Gail, Azrael and Joshua.”

“What do you suppose this is?” Sam wonders out loud while passing through the statues. When he gets to the one holding the scythe he touches it gently. Dean, in turn, goes to stand in front of the one holding the book. While Sam gives it slight pokes, Dean pushes completely against it, surprised when he finds that it turns.

“What the…?” he wonders. He lets the statue make a complete turn before he huffs out a breath. “You’ve got to be kidding me…”

“What is it?” Novak asks. Dean pats the statue again before taking a few steps back.

“It’s a riddle,” he tells him. “I think I’ve seen something about this in the notebook.” He takes it out of his pocket and goes through the pages, only to find the one he’s looking for close to the beginning. Great, that means that more puzzles will come their way. Luckily, Dean’s pretty good at solving them.

“I suppose we should be lucky somebody solved this one before us, right?” It’s Sam who points it out, though Dean shakes his head.

“Yeah, not really. First of all this is all in Enochian, and secondly; all that’s given us is the position of Michael and Gail. The other five are pretty much obscured by wet ink.” Dean literally can’t make out any symbol of the other angels. “See, Michael is supposed to face away from us, looking at this specific Angel that will probably be Gabriel if I’m seeing this right. Meanwhile, Gail is turned to our right, her back facing this Angel here.”

“Well, then, if this one is Gabriel, he’s supposed to look back at Michael.” Sam walks towards the statue of Gabriel and turns it around until it gets to the possible position. “What’s the one closest to Gabriel doing?”

Dean looks down. “Left side facing him,” he says. Sam nods, walking up to Metatron’s statue and turning it so. They move on to Joshua, Azrael and eventually Balthazar. One the last statue is turned another click sounds and the ground starts shaking a bit. Through the low rumble erupting from the floor, Dean checks to see how his companions are doing. Seeing that they seem fine calms him down a bit. Eventually, behind all the statues comes up another, larger one. Only this one familiar enough. Dean smirks.

“Now, I was wondering where she would be,” he mutters, looking at Cassia’s face. The woman looks stoic as ever, no expression to be seen in her stone eyes. Her hand is reaching forward now, like she’s trying to grab something. The other arm stays behind her, as if she had been holding somebody’s hand into her own.  

Behind her are the wings he’s come to associate with Cassiel. Dean wonders for a short moment just how much these people actually believed for her to be an Angel? Obviously, he doesn’t believe in that crap, but she must have been quite the saint to deserve such praise.

“Great, we got the statue. Now what?” Sam asks. Dean shrugs, turning to Novak who seems none the wiser.

“I guess she might be pointing at something?” Dean tries, following to where her hand is gesturing at. But there’s nothing other than a wall, it seems. Dean approaches it, standing close to it and smiling when he feels a light breeze against his cheek. “There’s something behind this wall.”

Sam quickly joins him, though Novak remains where he’s standing, right next to the statue. The brothers start knocking against the wall, searching for anything that might trigger something. But after a couple of minutes of not finding anything, nothing seems to happen.

That is, until Dean taps three more times against one particular stone. Another rumbling sound comes up and once more the ground shakes. Dean smiles, getting ready to start bragging towards his brother.

Only, the wall in front of him doesn’t move. That smile disappears just as quickly as it came.

“I found it,” Novak calls out from behind him. The brothers face him, seeing that behind the statue there’s an opening in the wall.

“How did you…?” Sam wonders out loud.

“Oh, you know, while you were looking for what she was pointing at in front of her, you ignored to check out what she was pointing at behind her.” Novak shrugs then before pointing at the symbol on the wall. “I touched this and voilà.”

Dean finds himself smirking before thinking better of it.

“Good job, Doc,” he tells him. Novak, in turn, beams at the praise. Sam looks pleased, though what for Dean doesn’t know. “C’mon, let’s see what’s in there.”

Novak goes first, with him being closest. Dean follows right through, turning around to see if his brother is following. He can only shortly see Sam’s face before it’s once again hidden behind the wall.

Dean blinks in confusion. Wait. This isn’t right.

“Sammy!” he calls out. Storming back to the wall, he slams his fist against it, trying to get a reaction from his brother.

“What happened?” Novak asks.

“Fucking wall came back down, Sammy’s on the other side!” Dean knocks against the wall a few times more. “SAMMY?!”

Then suddenly his walkie makes a cracking noise on his belt.  

“ _’m Fine, Dean,”_ he hears from it. “ _I’ll try to find my way around, okay? If I can’t find anything, I’ll go back up and you’ll just call me once you get topside as well.”_

Doesn’t seem like there’s much more to do. Dean grits his teeth together before agreeing to Sam’s proposition with a short ‘Alright, keep me posted’. Against his will, he steps away from the wall, hating it for separating him from his brother. He knows Sam’s fully capable of taking care of himself, but the idea of him being alone has never pleased him before, and it still doesn’t right now.

Dean doesn’t say anything to Novak. Instead he storms further into the hallway, his torch stuck in his hand as he lights up the way.

He can hear Novak behind him, but he hopes the guy doesn’t start speak. He needs to concentrate, find a way out of here and get back to his brother. This place must lead to somewhere, right? What’s the point of having a secret tunnel if it’s not just some sort of escape route?

“Mr. Winchester, would you mind slowing down?”

Dean huffs out a laugh.

“What, ‘m I going too fast for you?” he snaps back.

“It’s not precisely that, it’s more the fact that you’re wearing yourself down and we are still unsure of how long the road is ahead of us.” And damn, the jerk makes a good point. Gritting his teeth together, Dean lowers the speed a little bit, though not losing any of the determination he was feeling. By then, Novak has rejoined him again, only stepping a little bit after him.

“Fucking secret tunnels with their fucking secret doors that close behind people and get them stuck.”

“Mr. Winchester?”

“What?!”

Novak stops in his steps and Dean rubs his fingers against his forehead in annoyance. Biting on his lower lip, he gestures for Novak to continue.

“I was wondering about the Angels Gadreel talked about in his books,” Novak then starts carefully. Dean sighs again.

“C’mon, that’s just some crazy dude hearing voices in his head, that’s not real, y’know?” Because if there’s something Dean _can’t_ believe in, it’s Angels. He’s believed in them for a while, but given the fact that they’ve done jack shit for them, he’s pretty much lost all that faith.

Besides, he’d rather believe in some cursed ancient tribes or whatever, because at least those sons of bitches are able to be taken down.

“The fact remains that whatever voices he’s heard do match up with the current story we’re following, no?” Novak keeps trying. The two have resumed their stepping, though there doesn’t seem to be an ending to this hallway. Only turns to the right, up to a point where Dean’s pretty sure they’re just walking around in circles.

“Dude, Cassia was just some chick who got praised for doing some good shit. Just because people believed her to be an Angel don’t mean she actually was one.”

“But if you would just consider the possibilities-“

“That what?! Angels are real?” Dean doesn’t realize he’s shouting until he sees Novak take a step back, though there doesn’t seem to be any fright on his face, which is rather admirably if only he wasn’t pissing Dean off so much. “C’mon, dude, you’re a doctor. You know there’s no such thing.”

“I do not know, as a matter of fact,” Novak retorts. “I would believe in God and his Angels even if I were a truck driver or a salesman. My profession does not change my views, and I would just appreciate you not snapping me off for voicing them.”

“Oh yeah? Then where were God and those Angels of him when my mom got burned to death by a sick psychopath, huh?”

Novak’s mouth then snaps shut, eyes widening. Dean, too, realizes what he just said. He grunts out a small curse, passes his hand through his hair and starts marching away with his eyes squeezed together.

“Mr. Winchester, I-“

“Not a word,” Dean returns over his shoulder. He can’t do this. Not now, not ever. Especially with the dude who seems to be pissing him off so easily. He’s still not quite sure what exactly it is that pisses him off about him, but surely there’s a good reason for it.

After fifteen minutes they finally seem to be getting somewhere, though where that is isn’t exactly where Dean wants to be.

“Is that water?” Novak asks, and Dean’s afraid the guy’s right.

“What the-?” he asks, entering through the portal and finding himself in a large room with water coming out of the wall decorations. It comes down in some sort of fountain, collecting in the middle where a large Angel is portrayed.

There doesn’t need to be any questioning on who that Angel is supposed to be. Dean would recognize Cassia from far away, and that actually bothers him maybe a little bit.

“Great, another puzzle I think.” Dean puts his hands on his hips and starts looking around to see if there’s another entrance to this place. Maybe if they wait here for a bit, Sam will eventually find it, too?

But there’s no other door. So Dean grits his teeth together again and walks up to the middle. Taking in the statue, the position Cassia has taken is the same as always, with her hands reaching out to the people on her right and refusing the ones on her left. On the ground are more statues, people crawling up to her and reaching for her.

“The sinners and the worthy,” Novak points out. Dean gives him a short look, figuring that he’s right. “Though they’re not in the right places…”

“What makes you say that?” Dean asks in confusion. Novak points a finger towards the people on the ground closest to him.

“To begin, these people are in front of her rather than next to her,” he explains. “This fountain is not accurate.”

Dean gives the thing an analyzing look. “Not yet, at least,” he returns. He lifts up his feet and puts them into the fountain, not caring that he’s wetting his shoes and pants.

Or, yeah, maybe he’s caring a little bit because it’s still freaking cold. His teeth clap together instantly from it.

“Mr. Winchester, what are you doing?” Novak asks right when Dean reaches the statue. Then, carefully he puts his hands on the statue’s hips, giving it a pull and a push in an attempt to turn it. He’s not too surprised when it goes along.

A small victory laugh escapes his mouth and he quickly turns to Novak. “Looks like we can fix it. Where does she need to turn?”

Novak hesitates, blinking up at Dean in confusion for a few seconds before he shakes his head. Then he studies the statues of the people on the ground. Pointing to the ones closest to Dean, he nods.

“Those are the sinners,” he says.

“What makes you say that?” Because seriously, Dean wouldn’t have caught any difference between the two.

“It’s the way they hold themselves. These are the people who know they won’t get into Heaven. They look desperate, pleading for Cassiel to take them along. The others look more at peace, knowing that they have a good destination ahead of them.”

And that makes sense. Now that Dean’s aware of it, he notices the detail as well. On the other side there are less hands reaching up. These people don’t all stare at Cassia, but still give each other a look. In the other group, the souls don’t seem to want to look away out of fear that she’ll disappear if they do so.

“Alright, let’s give it a turn.” Dean cracks his fingers before giving Cassia’s hips another turn. Due to the age, it’s obvious that it doesn’t go along as well as he would have hoped. With a bit of grunting and cursing, and eventual help from Novak who doesn’t seem to mind wetting his feet as well, they manage to get it turned to where they think the right position is.

And they’re proven right when something suddenly clicks, and they’re unable of pushing it further. Then, in just a matter of seconds, water pours down from above them, coming up from the statue, as if its passageway had just been blocked the entire time.

Dean lets out an unbelieving breath, patting Novak on the shoulder while he takes a few steps back.

“Looks like we’re on the right track, I would say?” Dean’s eyes meet Novak’s for a short moment, and immediately there’s this familiarity going through him. He hates that feeling, makes him feel light in the head for some reason like his brain is trying to reach for a very distant memory he can’t access. Immediately he clears his throat and steps away from the man.

They need to move forward, after all.

Two things happen. Behind Dean, a piece of the stone wall opens up, revealing another dark hallway. Dean immediately starts to protest to that, until he sees a figure approaching them in confusion. That person, much to his relief, is Sam.

Dean runs up to him, pulling him into his arms and holding him tightly.

“Dude, I was just about to turn back as this was only a dead end. And then suddenly the wall disappeared?” Sam asks in confusion. When Dean lets him go, Sam pokes him in the side before patting Novak on the shoulder as well. “What have you been up to?”

“Oh, not too much. Just solving some puzzle, the usual.” Novak shrugs, shuffling on his feet.

“Uh-huh, and that’s why you both have wet feet?”

Dean laughs, feeling so incredibly relieved that his brother is back next to him. They couldn’t have been separated for longer than half an hour, maybe a bit longer, but it was still too long for Dean’s taste.

“Just doing the dirty jobs you wouldn’t do,” Dean counters. Sam glares at him.

“Don’t be an ass,” Dean’s little brother mutters, and Dean shakes his head before gesturing towards the statue. Because, besides the wall opening behind them, something else also happened.

The place where once the statue was has now been replaced by a round staircase, hidden behind a wall of water. The sculpture of Cassia has been lifted up, disappeared into the light. The light that surely means the outside world.

“C’mon, lets get out of here,” Dean suggests and the other two nod eagerly.

“I, for one, wouldn’t mind seeing the sun again.”

“Good luck with that.”

As Sam explains what he saw in his hallways (nothing, it was super freaking dark!), the three walk up into the daylight. The moment the fresh air reaches Dean’s nose, he lets out a relieved laugh.

“We’re out!” he says happily. But the moment the words come out, he’s also aware of people muttering around him. Some parents pull their kids away from the people that are emerging from the ground. And it’s then that Dean realizes that he has no idea where they are.

Standing in the middle of the fountain, Dean wonders if this had just been a plaza and it suddenly appeared for them. People do look at them like they’re not supposed to be here.

“I suggest we get out of here,” Sam offers and Dean nods. He doesn’t think further when he grabs Novak’s arm and starts pulling him along, ignoring his wet feet despite the cold. Once they’ve reached the street he understands why Sam suggested bolting.

He could recognize Meg's short blonde hair from far away. The woman has a couple of dudes behind her, gesturing towards the fountain to have it looked at. Shit, that thing is a freaking doorway to whatever hidden hallways they’ve found underneath there.

But, it’s not like they’ve found anything interesting, really. There were only puzzles and some journal entries from that dude, but other than that there isn’t much that they can bring home when it comes to information. It looks like they’re going to need to look elsewhere.

“Get out of sight,” Dean hisses, pulling Novak into the alley and pressing him against the wall. Sam, too, is standing next to him, breathing heavily from the sudden reaction. Novak mumbles something against Dean’s hand, which is apparently resting on his mouth. Dean quickly pulls it back, allowing the man to speak.

“They are going to find the catacombs,” the Doctor points out. Dean nods.

“Nothing we can do about it, now. We need to get out of here.”

“Yeah, we can’t let them get their hands on this,” Sam mutters, holding something up. Dean’s eyes widen, and he snatches it out of his brothers hand to study it.

It’s colored gold, with markings on it, one of them the symbol they’re chasing.

“Where did you get that?” Dean asks. Sam shrugs.

“It was on the ground. I took it along but my flashlight was giving up so I couldn’t really linger to check it out,” he explains.

“I thought you didn’t find anything?”

“I’m sorry, but is this really the right time for lingering?”

Dean and Sam look up, finding Novak with his hands balled into fists and ready for action. Right when Dean is about to say something, one of Meg’s guards passes the alley, not noticing them much to their luck. Though, before either of the brothers can do anything, Novak grabs the guy and smashes his face against the wall, thus knocking him down with just one blow.

“What the-?” Dean starts to ask, but Novak ignores it. He kneels down, grabs the gun and checks its ammo.

“I suggest we get out of here?”

And seeing Novak there with that gun in his hand makes Dean realize that maybe, just maybe, the guy can hold his own well enough. After checking if the coast is clear, he nods towards them to follow. Dean and Sam hurry after him, running into another alley and going forward.

Much to their luck they aren’t ambushed my many other guards, but they should be safe, still. Holding on to the guns they’ve acquired from three more guards, they jump into a cab and give directions to their hotel. When Dean looks behind them, he can see Meg running towards them, though stopping in her tracks once she realizes that she’s lost them.

“That was close,” he mutters.

“Too close,” Novak agrees. Sam, meanwhile, takes out his round symbol-thing and starts studying it. Dean, though, decides that he needs a coffee before he can do any more research.


	10. FALLS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup yup  
> I'm still updating  
> Hurray

Dean doesn’t know if it’s ironic that he’s pretty much used to being searched for by the enemy during a hunt. Every time he’s after something, there’s someone who wants that same thing for themselves and who’ll stop at nothing to get that first. Often, Dean wonders when they’ll ever stumble upon a trail where they won’t have a dangerous psychopath chasing after them.

They’re in the hotel room. Not the one they were in before, but one further away from the church. At least that way there’s less chance of being found. The receptionist at the first hotel wasn’t that happy about it, but after Novak waved around some euro-bills he shut up at least.

Dean’s in the shower. It’s a needed one, after that whole thing in the catacombs, it really helps relax his muscles for a bit. He knows Sam and Castiel are inspecting the thing Sam found, probably already trying to get anything from it. But Dean figures they’ll manage without him for ten minutes at least.

Once he’s out, drying himself off with only his reflection in the mirror to look at, Dean puts the towel around his hips and turns to the side. After wiping the mirror, his eyes fall down to the brand on his shoulder. It’s unchanged, the same familiar symbol that’s been there ever since he was born. The mark that is so connected with this case that it almost hurts Dean’s brain to even admit it.

Whatever is going on here, it’s not what it seems like it is. There are no Angels, no God. What there is, is another Jesus-like character who escaped with a few of the villagers and built up another civilization somewhere. A character who fell in love with someone she wasn’t supposed to fall in love with, though nothing much is really known about that dude.

Dean sighs, hand lowering from his shoulder. Despite his mind telling him all that, there’s still this weird tugging in his chest, pulling at his heart it seems. Like it’s telling him that he’s wrong, that he just needs to go along with it. But he can’t, because he knows better.

Shaking his head, Dean continues drying off before grabbing the loose clothing from the closed toilet. He puts it on quickly, and then he finally exits the bathroom.

“Finally. Were you preparing for a beauty pageant there?”

Dean throws a glare at his brother, who is just smirking. “Stop being such a bitch.”

“I will if you stop being such a jerk,” Sam retorts with a wide grin. Then he holds up the golden device. “Come and take a look at this, will ya?”

Dean clears his throat before sitting down on the couch next to Castiel and taking it from Sam’s hand. Next to him, the doctor is holding a steamy cup of coffee in his hands. There’s a notebook on his lap with a few notes on them. More symbols, too.

Then suddenly Castiel leans forward and grabs another mug, handing it to Dean.

“Here, I made you one, too,” he says. Dean blinks in confusion before taking it from him.

“Thanks,” he returns, feeling a bit weird at the thought that the guy actually made him something. He ignores that annoying smirk on Sam’s face, taking a sip from it before putting it back on the table and direct his attention once again to the device. He tries not to think about the fact that that coffee was exactly made the way Dean likes it.

So, what do they have here? Dean takes in the circular form of the device. There are three circles in it, one showing a by-now familiar Enochian symbol. The middle circle is another symbol, followed by a number of some sort in the last circle.

“So, great, what does this mean?” Dean wonders.

“Well, we’ve thought there’s one possibility for us here.” Sam points towards the Enochian. “Depending on which symbol you stand on, multiple Enochian letters are showing. Meaning that those letters must be forming a word that stands for the symbol?”

Dean nods. “Okay, so what have we got, then?” he asks. Castiel puts down his own cup of coffee and picks up his notebook.

“Well, so far we’ve only had one symbol, though this one was clearly the easiest.” He reaches towards the disk in Dean’s hands, turning the middle ring to a point where the familiar mark is showing again. “The letters that showed up with this one formed one word: Cassiel.”

Dean toys a bit with the outer ring, seeing that indeed some letters show, and the others just seem to have disappeared in the background. It’s rather peculiar.

“Okay, then, but what’s the number underneath?” It looks like a ‘3’, though that doesn’t mean much.

“We don’t know, yet.” Castiel points at his notebook. “I’ve written it down and added the number to it. Maybe it’s easier to figure out when we’ve translated all the symbols?”

Dean nods. He turns the middle ring to the next symbol, seeing the current letter and number disappear.

“What does this say?” Dean points towards the first Enochian symbol that appears.

“That’s a ‘c’,” he says. He writes it down, eyes not leaving the disk as Dean keeps on turning. “’e’, ‘f’, ‘i’, ‘l’, ‘r’, ‘u’.” After that, the symbols are the same again. As Castiel looks down at the letters, Dean puts down the disk to look along.

“You guys mind if I get a shower as well?” Sam, meanwhile, asks. Dean waves him off, indicating that he doesn’t care. Once Sam is off, the two remaining men remain focused on the possible words that are formed with this.

“Cilefru? Fruilec? I dunno, man, I’m just summing some things up that come to mind.”

“I think I know it,” Castiel then mutters as he starts writing down what he thinks it means. “If you think about it; Cassiel was an archangel. Maybe these are all archangels?”

Dean can read ‘Lucifer’ on the notes and he huffs out a breath, actually impressed by Castiel’s quick thinking.

“Nice,” he says, slapping him on the shoulder shortly before turning back to the disk. “And the number assigned to Lucifer is ‘1’.”

Castiel writes it down before reaching for the disk again and turning to the next symbol.

This time, they get themselves the angel Michael, followed by the number ‘5’. After that, Rafael (3), and eventually Gabriel (7).

“I guess you were right about it being about the Archangels.” Dean can’t help but find himself smiling. Though, despite that, they still have no idea what the numbers are, but they’re at least a bit further in their research. “Maybe Sam can tell us what the numbers are for? A fresh mind and all that?”

Castiel nods next to him. “Yes,” he agrees. He then puts the notebook on the table and takes his coffee again. Dean does the same, the two of them enjoying their hot beverage in silence, seated together in a cramped couch that doesn’t leave much place for the two of them. There’s this weird buzzing in his left shoulder where it’s pressed against Castiel’s right one.

“So, uh…” Dean doesn’t really know what to say to get a conversation going. Why does he even want to? It’s not like he can stand the guy, right? “Doc, where’d you learn to fight like that?”

“My brother taught me,” Castiel explains. “Or, we taught ourselves is more like it.”

“Your brother, twin you said? What does he do for a living?”

Castiel shrugs. “He’s a treasure hunter, much like you,” he admits. “He does small gigs, mostly. He’s also less shot at than we have been in the past few days, I would suspect.”

Dean laughs at that. “Yeah, it’s a gift.”

“It’s really not,” Castiel returns, tough catching the joke and laughing as well. Then he sighs. “Anyway, Jimmy’s on this ‘big lead’ right now, wouldn’t tell me too much about it. I have no idea where he is at the moment. He often just sends me little messages to say that he’s alright.”

Dean nods. He doesn’t know what he would do if Sam would be doing this shit on his own, without knowing where he is 24/7. He wonders if Castiel is feeling as anxious all the time as Dean is feeling right now just at the thought of it.

“You know what he’s chasing?”

But Castiel shakes his head. “No,” is all he says about it. He sounds bitter, angry. Dean just sighs and shakes his head. It doesn’t seem like Castiel wants to talk more about it.

By the time Sam returns, both their mugs are empty. Dean has started the TV while Castiel is looking out the window to make sure they weren’t followed. There aren’t many English channels on, so Dean is finding himself watching some Italian drama he doesn’t understand anything about.

“So, what have we got?” Sam asks. Dean points at the notebook.

“Just five Archangels and some random numbers,” he explains. Sam hums, taking the notebook and giving it a look.

“Coordinates?” he suggests, but Dean shakes his head.

“Nah, don’t make sense,” he returns. Sam then continues searching, taking about ten minutes before he thinks of something.

“What if these numbers represent the letter we need to look at?”

Castiel turns away from the window, and Dean mutes the sound on the TV.

“What do you mean?” he asks. Sam shrugs.

“Well, here you have ‘Cassiel’, right? There they say number three? The third letter in that name is the ‘s’. For Gabriel the seventh is the ‘l’, Lucifer’s first letter is obviously ‘l’ as well. Michael has the ‘a’ and Rafael has the ‘f’.”

And then a word appears on the paper, written by Sam’s pencil.

FALLS.

“God damnit,” Dean mutters. He leans back in the couch, looking up at Castiel who walks their way to check what Sam wrote down.

“I suppose this would indicate the ‘Waterfall City’, right?” he asks.

“I guess,” Sam returns. The three end up in a short silence after that while they try to think back about it. When Dean’s eyes meet Sam’s, the younger Winchester starts shaking his head. “Oh, no. No way.”

“C’mon, Sam, it’s the only lead we have!” Dean throws his hands up in annoyance. Sam really doesn’t seem on board with the idea, but it’s literally all they can do right now.

“No, we are not going that road.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t seem to follow here?” Castiel asks in confusion. Dean leans forward with his elbows on his knees before nodding in his brother’s direction.

“This asshole here doesn’t want to even consider that _maybe_ James Gurney could have something to do with this.”

“That’s because that guy wrote children stories about cities with dinosaurs, Dean.”

“So what? Even the craziest leads have often proved to be the best ones.”

Castiel crosses his arms before looking at Sam. “I must agree with your brother, Sam.”

The siblings look up in confusion. Sam in obvious betrayal that Castiel would chose Dean’s side over his. Dean more in surprise for the same reason.

“Castiel…”

“The stories might be about dinosaurs and whatever else they are about. But they’ve talked about a city of waterfalls. And Gurney is mentioned to have worked with archeologists. He could know somebody who knows something.”

Sam seems to be at war in his own mind. With two against one, it seems obvious what their next destination will be. But the bitter look is still obvious on Sam’s face as he comes to that realization.

“You two better get something out of the guy,” he mutters out.

“Us two? You’re not coming along?” Dean asks in confusion. Sam gives him a hard look.

“If we’re travelling back to the states, I’m checking in on my fiancé. I’m pretty sure you two can manage this guy.”

Dean and Castiel give each other a short look before Dean nods.

Yes, he can manage this. They’ll get the information out of Gurney, one way or another.

“So, where are we heading out to?” Castiel then asks.

“Rhinebeck, New York,” Dean returns almost immediately. After getting a strange stare from both his brother and Castiel, he shrugs. “What? I looked it up a while back when I first thought of him,” he explains in his defense.

Sam just rolls his eyes, though Castiel simply seems to smile. 

It’s a flight of 20 hours almost. First they’re on the plane from Rome to London, which takes about three hours. After spending an hour there, they’re back up for a flight of almost eight hours, where they’ll have to wait in Boston for nearly three more hours. From Boston it’s two more hours to Philadelphia, until there’s one more hour until they’re at the Stewart International Airport, arriving there around ten in the evening. Too late to really get anything more done.

Sam on the other hand has a much shorter flight ahead of him as he’s with them only until London, where he heads the other direction to get back to Sioux Falls.

Their separation is not the most fun moment in Dean’s life. As he watches his brother walking away to board for his flight, everything inside of him itches to go along with him. It’s weird how, despite being nearly two years apart, just such a short time back together can make him once again so dependent of his baby brother.

There’s the chance to watch movies on the plane, but Dean just can’t relax. Next to him Castiel is silently reading a book. Whenever their lunch is being served he thanks the hostess, while Dean can only just nod nervously. At one point, it even seems like Castiel has fallen asleep.

That lucky bastard.

Finally, after 20 hours, the plane touches down and Dean takes his first steps back into the States. After that it’s just a drive of a few hours more. By now, Dean’s used of using rentals. When Castiel’s about to pull out his credit card to get the car, Dean stops him.

“Can’t have you paying for everything, doc,” he tells him.

“But I can most certainly afford it?”

“Still, it would be rude to let you pay for everything. We’ve spent nearly eight thousand dollars on plane tickets alone. Just let me pay for this.”

And Castiel stays quiet after that. On the road, he doesn’t say much, either. Dean notices quickly enough that he’s asleep. If this was Sam, he would have put the music up loudly to give him a scare, or he would have done something else that would make him wake up suddenly. But with Castiel he doesn’t want to do that. The doctor is peacefully asleep, eyes closed and breathing soft next to Dean. It’s a good moment to enjoy the silence, the only sound being the purrs of the car. Though, they’re not as strong as Baby’s. The car is alright, just not something Dean would bring home.

The road is empty, which should be enough to clear Dean’s mind for a bit. Sam should already be in Sioux Falls, and knowing him he didn’t get some rest and got to the hospital immediately despite Bobby threatening to flick him on the head for it.

He hates that his brother is suffering like this. It’s not like Dean knew Jessica well, but he does know that Sam loves her. And Dean’s been in love, once. He can easily imagine losing someone like that would hurt an awful lot. He wouldn’t even have brought Sam along had he not insisted so much.

He has no idea what Sam is hoping to find. Dean just wants answers, and sure, a large treasure is promised through whatever legends their parents heard and failed to pass along to them, but it was never Dean’s intention to bring it along. One glance at Castiel reminds him that the guy doesn’t seem interested in treasure, either.

Dean stops at a gas station to get some sugar into him. He moves quietly so he doesn’t wake up Castiel. Once inside, he grabs some soda from the fridge. Sugar’ll keep him active for a little bit longer, but it’s not a good idea to go for coffee. The soda will be fine, along with some candy that looks red and probably tastes of strawberry. He pays the cashier, who sounds bored and about ready to go home.

He notices something’s not right the moment he opens up the door to the car. Castiel is completely curled away from him, breathing quickly and seemingly shaking in his seat. Dean frowns when he sees him, trying to reach out for him but pulling back when Castiel suddenly jumps up.

“Dem?!” he calls out, head turning with his eyes closed, as if he’s looking for somebody. “Demetrius?!”

“Cas?” Dean finally grabs his shoulder and starts shaking him. Castiel’s arms go up in the air, as if he’s falling and trying to grab something. Once his eyes open, he looks disoriented. He blinks in confusion, sitting up in the car and looking around to search where he is.

“Dean,” he then breathes out, closing his eyes again and pressing his hand against his forehead.

“Dude, you okay? You started screaming like crazy.”

“I don’t- I don’t know. It was as if I was… falling?”

Dean just sits next to him, keeping an eye on the doctor who is trying to catch his breath.

“Who’s Demetrius?” he asks carefully. Castiel then frowns in confusion.

“Dem- I’m sorry, who?”

“Demetrius? You were calling out for a Demetrius, like you lost them or something?” Dean shrugs, realizing that Castiel probably doesn’t remember anything from his dream. Well, this sucks…

“I don’t remember anything,” Castiel whispers out. His hands go up to his shoulders, as if he’s trying to warm himself. Dean can help with that. He pulls up the heat right after starting up the car again. Then he nods to the road.

“C’mon, man. We still got an hour left to drive.”

Castiel nods, silently leaning back in his seat and still looking extremely disturbed about what just happened.

Dean gets them into a motel in the village of Rhinebeck. Castiel gets out of the car with the message that he’ll get them a room. Dean watches him go for a moment before he gets to the trunk, fishing out the bags.

He waits by the car with only his mind to keep him company. In a sudden wave of sugar rush, Dean starts rubbing his wrist. The one where a few weeks ago he was still wearing Cassie’s bracelet. It seems like an eternity ago, but yet it’s only been about two months since she dumped his ass. And for what? For thinking that he was messing with her when he told her the truth about his real job? He thought relationships were built on honesty, but clearly Cassie wanted none of that.

Dean looks up in the sky. Away from the big city, the stars are visible above him. He likes the view, a smile creeping up on his lips as he observes them. His dad taught him how to read the stars a long time ago, but warned him that they wouldn’t always be there to help him out. Yet, Dean’s pretty sure that in an ancient city there wouldn’t be any light pollution that would keep the stars away.

He’s pulled out of his thoughts when Castiel returns with a key in his hand and his lips in a hard line.

“I’m afraid there weren’t many rooms left,” Castiel explains.

“That’s okay. What did you get?” He accepts the key that Castiel hands to him.

“A king-sized bed. Other rooms were taken or are under construction.”

Dean glances around, noticing that, indeed, they are having some work done at the place.

“Well, y’know, I’ve shared with Sam countless times. I don’t mind,” he tells him. Castiel nods, his expression making it obvious that he really needs to sleep. Dean hands him back the key and takes the bags. With the way Castiel is now, Dean’s not letting him carry his heavy stuff.

They get to the first floor, Castiel unlocking the door for him. Dean drops the bags on the bed with a loud sigh.

“I can’t wait to fall asleep,” he groans. Before Castiel can even close the door he’s already changing into his sleeping attire. Castiel, meanwhile, heads to the bathroom, grumbling something about taking a shower.

Whatever the guy dreamed of, it clearly messed him up in a way. Dean isn’t sure if he can help with that. Maybe the guy just needs a good hot shower to relax for a bit. Dean’s not gonna wait for it. He brushes his teeth at the sink right next to the bathroom, and then he gets into the bed. He’s asleep before Castiel even comes out of the bathroom.

 

 

They’re laughing. Hands held together, they run into the forest. He’s holding his hand against his mouth to keep his snort in. Cassia is giggling, pulling him along to escape the viewing eyes of the people.

They run deeper into the forest, up to a point where they get to a clearing. There’s a stream, with a large waterfall. Cassia laughs as she lets go of his hand and steps into the water with her bare feet. Her long blue dress becomes wet as it touches the river, but she doesn’t bother to pull it up.

“What are you doing?” he finds himself asking. Cassia throws him a blinding smile. He just falls even more in love with her at the sight of seeing her enjoying her time so much.

“I just want to feel normal for a moment,” she says, holding out her hand for him to take. “Just a wife who loves her husband, and acts like a teen who just wants to have fun.”

He laughs again. “Our lives have been very different ever since we came here.” He takes her hand, removing his sandals and making his first steps into the water. “Everybody looks up to you, now.”

“They are going to find out eventually,” she whispers, her face falling a little bit at her own words. He nods, understanding her words. Or, well, he doesn’t really understand but he finds himself nodding anyway.

They march further into the water until they get to the large pond where the waterfall is. Their clothes are completely wet, maybe even slowing them down. He swims them back to shore to discard of them. Cassia does the same.

Completely rid of any layers, they get back in. Cassia swims to the waterfall. He follows her, grabbing her by the waist and turning her around. Cassia laughs right before kissing him on the mouth. Then she pulls them under with their lips still connected. He doesn’t panic, lets her guide him along. When they resurface they’re behind the waterfall.

“Now, my love, we are completely alone,” she whispers into his ear. She has her arms wrapped around his neck, her cheek against his. “What are you going to do with me?”

He laughs gently, pulling her up until she’s seated on a rock. Then he leans back, taking a good look at his wife.

“I’m going to prove to you just how much I love you,” he says, pulling up her hand and gently kissing her lips. Her long brown hair sticks against her chest and her face, drops of water rolling off her skin.

“I can’t wait,” she then whispers. She leans forward to kiss him again before returning to his ear. “But I’ll have to.”

Dean jumps back in surprise. “Why?” he asks in confusion. It’s then that he realizes he’s not saying something he seems to be programmed to say. He says something that comes up in his own mind.

“Find him, please,” she says before pushing him. Dean falls back into the water, and immediately after that he’s hitting the ground with a loud thud. A groan escapes his mouth, an ache coming up on the places where his body hit the floor. He hears some rustling behind him.

“Dean?”

Shit, it was another dream. Again. Dean grunts, turning so that he’s lying on his back, and then dropping his head on the floor. These dreams are starting to feel more real with every one that passes. It’s almost as if he can still taste her on his lips, feel the ghost of her skin under his fingertips. He sighs while he closes his eyes.

“’m Okay, Doc,” he mutters. When he looks up again he finds Castiel’s blue eyes looking down at him. There’s this strange feeling he can’t shake off when he stares into them; this weird sense of familiarity.

“Are you sure? You were tossing and turning the entire time.”

Dean waves off the comment, getting off his ass and back into the bed. He’s all too aware of Castiel staring at him, but he just can’t turn around. There’s this freaking wrongness all around him, telling him that something isn’t right. And sure, he somehow got himself past the feeling of hating the guy’s guts without realizing it, but that doesn’t mean that he wants to spend more time with him than he has to. He still doesn’t really know the guy.

He just lies back down, but there isn’t much sleep for the rest of the night. Luckily for Castiel, he doesn’t seem to have the same trouble. By the time morning comes they stop at the first coffeehouse they find and get breakfast. They talk some more about the symbol and their origins, since Castiel figured them out on the flight.

(“Michael’s symbol represents a complete, open circle, which represents pureness. The cross in the middle of the circle would seem to be an image of Michael’s loyalty to their father, but it is actually a sword, and thus the Michael Sword.  

“Lucifer’s symbol represents a source of light. The little beams are the sun, while the bigger ones are the stars. Their name before becoming the Devil was Morningstar, and they were the brightest of them all. But unlike Michael’s circle, Lucifer’s is dark. They were cast out of Heaven and hated by their brothers and sisters.

 

“Raphael’s circle is open like Michael’s. It was said that they accompanied pilgrims on their journey, thus the staff. On the left side of the circle is what appears to be a fish, and at first I thought it was the ichthys, which is also called the Jesus fish. But then I realized that in some religions Raphael is seen as a healer, and there is the tale in the book of Tobit of them healing someone with the help of a fish. This book is accepted as canonical by the Catholics, Orthodox and some Anglicans.

“Now Gabriel’s one is the trickiest one so far. I’m still not sure if I completely got it right; Gabriel has a broken circle. The two halves are merged together, some parts dark and some parts uncolored. Gabriel was seen as the messenger of God. They’re the one who announced mother Mary of her pregnancy. They’re also one of the Angels who charged the attack from Heaven which we’ve already linked with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. After that, though, they seem to have disappeared. That made me think that maybe they’ve left Heaven after that.

“And with that we have to finish with Cassiel’s symbol. Once again a circle, but not broken, nor complete. It’s imperfect, never ending. Which would reference back to what Athan said. One part has wings, the dots I think represent the people they were guarding. The other part of the circle, I suspect, represents their fall. The circle is colored in because, in the eyes of heaven, Cassiel, too, was a traitor for choosing to fall for a human.”)

After finishing their plates and paying the bill they ask around for a bit to get to the right address. Dean might even be playing the part of a very distant relative who wants to surprise their grand-uncle with a visit after having not seen each other for nearly ten years. At least one old lady buys it and she’s the one to point them in the right direction.

The house is small, probably half of what Dean remembers his house to be back when he was four. It’s probably a one-bedroom place, but Dean doubts the guy needs more space in here. They walk up to the door, and Dean rings the doorbell. When he turns his head, much to his surprise, he already sees some Christmas decorations lingering in the front garden. Thanksgiving has only just passed and they’re already here with that crap.

Dean’s about to ring the bell again when the door finally opens, revealing the forty-seven-year-old man wearing a white t-shirt full of paint stains and a pencil in his hands. The man’s hair is thinning out, but he looks friendly enough. His eyes are grey, and he’s clearly not bothered to shave in the past few days.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” he asks in confusion. Just when Dean’s about to speak up, it’s Castiel who starts talking instead.

“Good morning, Mr. Gurney. I’m Dr. Castiel Novak, this is my colleague Mr. Dean Winchester. If it’s possible, we would like to ask you some questions?”

The man’s eyes widen when he sees Castiel standing.

“Novak, you say? You must be Jimmy Novak’s brother, then? You two look exactly alike.”

And Dean catches immediately how Castiel stiffens up next to him.

“My br- you’ve seen my brother?”

“Yeah, came to ask me a few questions about some of my work. Has there been any progress in his search?”

Castiel turns to Dean and then shrugs when the other throws him a questioning glance.

“I do not know, my brother has not contacted me for a while, I’m afraid. He always just tells me stuff whenever he’s found something. I’ve grown used to it, by now.”

“Oh, well, I sure do hope that he’s okay. You two gentlemen want to come in?”

And the two nod, accepting the invitation.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, James Gurney is an actual real person. He did write the Dinotopia books. Don't ask me how I came upon him. This stuff just happens
> 
> I also want to help my best friend Jo, who is my sister in every way, for designing all the amazing logos for all the Angels. I know the original Angel-Cassiel is your favorite, but I'm still looking for a way to portray it at last!


	11. Mato Grosso

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story's practically finished. I'm impatient, so let's just make it an update a day

 

“Alright, so I’ve always been interested in archeology and lost civilizations. Which is why I chose to major in anthropology. I traveled around, and I drew what I saw. Eventually, it peaked the attention of National Geographic. That’s when I met the people that were the real deal.”

They are seated in the living room. There are sketchbooks lingering around, painting utensils stacked together on the table. A large easel stands near the window with a canvas on it, the drawing on it still unfinished.

“For long I’ve dreamt of discovering lost cities, but in this time of day it’s nearly impossible to still do that. So I settled myself with painting them down.”

Castiel, who is going through one of the sketchbooks suddenly pokes Dean to get his attention, before showing him the picture that he’s looking at.

“What about the Waterfall City?” Dean asks, looking at said place on the paper Castiel is currently at. Gurney shrugs.

“I remember that I was in Brazil when the idea first came up. We were in the jungle, trying to get some nice views for shots and paintings. After a while we came across some natives, but not the kinds that you see on TV, right? They were quite… modern. I think they came from the city and just set up camp somewhere. I don’t know.” Gurney puts his hand on his forehead while he thinks back. “They started telling us about this ancient civilization in the past that lived in these woods, but the city of waterfalls was impossible unless you were of the ‘bloodline’, they said.”

“Bloodline? What bloodline?”

“Beats me. They started showing us some sort of symbol they seemed to think very highly of. Then they spoke about the worthy being granted entry to the city of the Waterfalls.”

Gurney takes another sip from his coffee while Castiel goes through the next sketchbook. Then he suddenly stops, nudging Dean once again in the side.

There he sees a drawing of a group of people in some sort of jungle, seated in front of a large rock with a symbol on it. They seem to be worshipping it, indeed.

“I’m sorry, sir, but was it this symbol that you saw?” Castiel eventually asks, turning the sketchbook around to have Gurney verify it. The man squints as he tries to see it, but then he nods.

“Oh, yeah, that’s definitely it. Never dared to publish it, though. These people are pretty serious about that stuff.”

Dean and Castiel glance at each other before both of them nod. Then Dean pulls up the sleeve of his left arm, baring his shoulder. “As a matter of fact, we are looking for it, as well.”

Gurney’s eyes widen in surprise as he sees it there branded on Dean’s skin. He pulls up some glasses from on the table and puts them on before he leans towards Dean. He grabs his arm, carefully studying the mark that’s etched on Dean’s shoulder.

“Holy moley,” the guy mutters out. “That’s-“

“We have been trying to find its origin, sir. So, if you can remember, would you mind sharing any information you have on it? Where exactly in Brazil was it that you came across this symbol?” As Castiel asks his question, Gurney lets go of Dean’s arm to glance back at the doctor. He seems pensive, like he’s extremely deep in thought.

“How long you two been together?” he asks, his question coming completely out of the blue.

“Uh,” Castiel starts. Dean shakes his head.

“We aren’t,” he quickly informs the man. Gurney, though, just puts his hand on his chin while he leans back in his seat.

“You two have this weird… something around you. I honestly thought you were a couple.” Gurney then stands up, leaving Castiel and Dean a bit perplexed by the strange explanation. Once Gurney returns, he’s holding a map. “We were traveling to Mato Grosso. The lines here are the places we’ve been, but the jungle gigantic. I suggest bringing a lot of provisions along. Also don’t travel without somebody who knows the place through and through. It could be dangerous.”

He then hands out another flyer. It looks old, at the verge of breaking apart. “This sweet lady here’s the one who helped us through the most part. She’s retired now, but I heard her lovely daughter Sophie has taken up the business. Make sure to look her up before you enter that jungle.”

Castiel takes the flyer with a nod, getting back up on his feet. He shakes Gurney’s hand with a grateful nod.

“Thank you, sir. You’ve helped us out a lot.” Gurney just smiles.

“You’re very welcome, Dr. Novak.” He then turns to Dean to shake his hand as well. “And you, Mr. Winchester. I’ve once worked with your parents as well, though only for a short time. I’m sure they’re proud of the man you’ve become today.”

Dean breathes out with a shock, startled by the mention of his parents.

“Thank you,” he whispers out. “But my mother, she… passed away when I was four. Now it’s just me, my brother and my old man.”

Gurney nods before putting his other hand on top of their hold. “Then I’m sure that, where-ever she is, she’s watching over you.”

Dean doesn’t know what else to say to that so he just remains quiet. Their hands let go, and Dean and Castiel are once again guided to the door.

 

Instead of bringing Sam up to date with what they’ve learned, the two just decide to travel back to Sioux Falls for a bit. The flight there is not as long as all the others, and in just a few hours the two are already seated on Bobby’s couch with a map of Brazil in front of them. Sam’s at the hospital, still.

“I figure he’ll be back soon enough,” Bobby assures them with his head in the books. Being the unofficial uncle of Sam and Dean, Bobby often dives into the books to research anything Dean doesn’t know about. In the past, he used to hunt as well, but after landing in a wheelchair he had to give up on the life.

Bobby used to be married, too. Dean, to this day, has no idea what exactly happened to her. It’s not a story Bobby likes to tell, and Dean never asked before.

“Now, I’m pretty sure my ears were deceivin’ me but were you two idjits saying yer goin’ to Brazil?”

Castiel doesn’t respond as he keeps inspecting the map. Dean, on the other hand, gets up from the couch to go to Bobby’s desk.

“C’mon, man, it’s the best clue we’ve gotten in a long while! A tribe of people that actually worship the symbol? They’re gonna tell us more, I’m sure of it!”

“Yeah, or they’ll kill you for carrying an ancient holy symbol on yer skin.” Bobby doesn’t look too convinced. Dean rolls his eyes, throwing his hands in the air.

“Y’know, I thought you’d actually have out backs with this one, Bobby.”

There’s hurt to be seen in Bobby’s blue eyes. Dean hates himself for pulling that card, but he’s really tired of nay-sayers. First Sam, and now him? He’s sure they’re on the right track here, and he’ll do anything to prove it to them.

“Y’know I’ll stand behind whatever choice you make, son,” Bobby then starts. “But many people have ended up dead in that Jungle trying to find a lost, ancient city.”

“What jungle?”

Everybody turns around, seeing Sam in the doorway with the keys of the Impala still in his hands. His eyes are red, but he looks like he’s not close to crying anymore. It hurts Dean to see him like this, so miserable and pained.

“The Amazon Forest,” Bobby clarifies when it doesn’t seem like anybody else will.

“I figure you guys got a lead, then.” Sam drops the keys into the bowl and takes off his coat. When he passes Castiel he greets him with a pat on the shoulder, before he joins Dean. “I suppose I should apologize.”

“Nah, man. I doubted me, too.” Dean shrugs as he puts his hands in his pockets, eyes cast on the ground. “You okay?”

Sam sniffs before nodding. “I’m fine,” he says. Then he turns back to Castiel, taking place on the couch where Dean was just seated. “Tell me everything you know.”

And ten minutes later, the two have given him a summary of everything they’ve learned from Gurney.

“So, people in the Amazonian jungle know about this, and the guy accidentally stumbled upon them?” Dean nods at Sam’s question.

“But let’s not forget about what else happened in that jungle.” Bobby rolls himself closer to the boys with a book in his lap. “Y’guys familiar with the lost city of ‘Z’?”

Castiel frowns, while Sam and Dean nod.

“Yeah, ain’t that that supposed city that guy searched for? Uh…”

“Percy Fawcett,” Sam helps him remind. Dean nods again, pointing at Sam.

“Right, him. He stumbled across some artifacts that could indicate people used to live there, but he never found the actual proof.”

Bobby nods once again, opening the book and then dropping it on top of the map Castiel was studying.

“Fawcett made enough research and had formulated ideas about a lost city back in 1914. Before he could find it, he had to return to serve with the Army. Once the war was over, he returned to Brazil to study further. His first attempt at finding the city was in 1920, which failed when he ended up with a fever and had to shoot his pack animal.”

Dean and Sam look at each other with frowns. He doesn’t really know what to say about this, so he just stays quiet.

“In 1925 he returned with funding this time. He took along his eldest son, Jack, and jack’s best friend Raleigh. He carefully chose his traveling company, made sure they were adept at it. The last time he was heard of, he was accompanied by the two boys, two Brazilian labourers-“

“I think you mean ‘slaves’?” Sam interrupts.

“Shut it, boy. He also had two horses, eight mules and a pair of dogs. No more was heard from him after this letter.” Bobby points a copy of said letter in the book, the date on top of it saying ’29 May 1925’. “The letter was for his wife, saying that he was about to head into unexplored territory accompanied only by Jack and Raleigh.”

“What happened, then?” Castiel asks in wonder.

“They were never heard of, again,” Dean answers for him. He doesn’t know why Bobby gives them the history lesson, though he’s guessing it’s to have Castiel up to date as well. “People think the natives killed them. There were the Kalapalos, the Arumás, the Suyás and the Xavantes. They were crossing their territory, and maybe they couldn’t get themselves out.”

“But,” Sam continues, “the Kalapalos claimed that they saw the two young boys were sick, and that it’s possible they just died of natural causes.”

“Over the years, Fawcett’s stuff has been found over the different tribes, which would indicate they were there at the time.”

Castiel pulls the book closer, reading over the lines with a small sigh. “The way this letter finishes… ‘You need have no fear of any failure…’.” Castiel looks up. “He was so certain he would find it…”

“Sounds familiar?” Bobby crosses his arms.

“Bobby…”

“Don’t ‘Bobby’ me, boy. Maybe it’s time to just accept the fact that it’s too dangerous and leave it at that, huh?”

Nobody speaks. Dean has his hands balled into fists, while Sam shakes his head. Castiel keeps on reading the book quietly. Eventually, Dean gets up from the couch, walking up to the window and taking a look outside. It’s already getting dark, and Dean’s pretty sure it’s snowing.

“I know you worry,” he then says. Then he looks back up, seeing Bobby with his jaw set. “This thing has been chasing me my entire life. I’m tired of not knowing what it’s got to do with me. There’s _no_ proof these people died. They might as well have found it and decided not to leave. You don’t know anything about that. But I intend to find out.”

There’s a beat of silence, and then a look of defeat on Bobby’s face. Castiel, after that, gets up as well.

“I agree,” he says. “I want to find out as well.” His eyes are determined, a small smile appearing on his face. Dean can’t help but smile back when Castiel comes to stand next to him at the window.

“Sam, you don’t have any connection with this case. I’m not sure if there’s treasure, or if the legends mom talked about were lying. You have your business here, so I would understand if you’d decide to remain here with Jess.”

“Screw that,” Sam then calls out, surprising almost everybody. “Treasure or no treasure, I can’t just sit here, wasting my time at the hospital and contribute absolutely nothing to this search. I told you I’m in, and I mean it.”

“You realize we could be gone for a while, right?” Dean tries to warn him. Sam snorts.

“That’s what we do, don’t we?” he asks. “Even if there isn’t much treasure up there, you still found an ancient underground city. That alone would probably help me cover the hospital bills. You’ve already helped me, Dean. Now let me help you.”

The three stand there at the rainbow, suddenly turning to Bobby who lifts up his hands.

“Well I’m sorry if I didn’t put up the inspirational soundtrack for this moment of redemption. Clearly, I’m not going anywhere.”

Dean laughs, throwing his arms over Sam and Castiel’s shoulders. It looks like they’re getting closer at last. Next stop: Brazil!

 

They have a lead, at least. Thanks to the final letter Fawcett wrote to his wife, they have coordinates of his last known location. At least that way they don’t have to start from scratch.

Their plane in Sioux Falls leaves at 10:45 pm. There’s a stop in Chicago before their actual flight to Sao Paulo. After that, it’ll be another twenty-four hour drive until they get to Lucas do Rio Verde, which is a small town where the flyer says to find this Sophie Gurney talked about.

This time, Dean goes through a dreamless sleep, though he doesn’t feel particularly rested when he wakes up due to the fact that he’s in an airplane. The first thing they do in Sao Paulo is renting another car. Then, with each having their turn behind the wheel, they start their twenty-four-hour drive to the village.

The three of them are stiff and aching by the time they arrive. They catch up some sleep at a hotel before they finally head out into the city. The first thing they do after getting some rest is look up this Sophie, whose address they hope is still the same as the one on the flyer.

During the day, they have to admit that this supposed ‘village’ looks more like a small city. One particular street even reminds Dean of Los Angeles, much to his surprise. He’s almost ready to start spotting celebrities when the GPS tells him to make a left turn.

The house Sophie lives in is small, not fit for a family. As they exit the car, the first thing Sam does is poke his brother in the side.

“Don’t flirt with her,” he warns him. Dean gasps in fake horror.

“My, Sam, I would never-“ he starts before he gets another soft slap in his stomach. He starts laughing, rolling his eyes at Castiel when he sees him appearing confused. They ring the doorbell, Dean rubbing his stomach in an overdramatic way while Sam has his arms crossed.

When eventually the door opens, the three men take a step back to see a young girl around Sam’s age standing there. She has sandy-blonde wavy hair that looks incredibly soft, along with some intense green eyes. On her face are freckles. She has a rather angular face, her nose small but sharp, and her eyebrows filled out. She looks beautiful.

“Posso ajudar?” she asks, leaning against the doorway. Right, they’re in another foreign country. Dean grabs Castiel’s arm and pulls him forward.

“Nós gostaríamos de, uh, pedir sua ajuda,” Castiel gets out, though sounding a bit unsure. His eyes, too, are wide when he sees the girl in front of him. She seems to have gotten a reaction out of them all, somehow. Just not in the way Dean would have imagined.

“Deixe-me adivinhar, a selva?”

Castiel nods. “Sim, precisamos chegar aqui.” He pulls out the notebook he wrote all the symbols in and hands them to Sophie, pointing to the coordinates he wrote down from Fawcett’s letter. Sophie takes the notebook, a serious look on her face as she reads it. Then, without saying anything else she looks through the other pages where any sort of research Castiel has done has been written or drawn down.

“É perigoso,” she eventually says before handing back the journal. Then she faces the two brothers with an equally unimpressed face. “It’ll be dangerous.”

Her English is rather good, Dean has to admit. He hopes they won’t be needing to have Portuguese conversations through Cas the entire time.

“We’re aware,” Dean responds.

“Why would you want to go there?”

“Because, I…” Dean sighs, rolling his eyes before pulling up his sleeve once again, revealing the symbol.

“Círculo imperfeito,” she whispers, her fingers reaching out for it but not touching it. She quickly pulls back.

“Yeah, that’s what Athan said,” Dean mutters, not needing Castiel to translate that. Sophie looks up with wide eyes upon hearing that. Dean’s about to point it out, but then she quickly enters her house, gesturing for them to follow.

“Come on, let me give you a quick explanation of the jungle, first.”

 

Sophie may look like a model, but she surely isn’t one. As she’s seated next to Dean in the car, she’s grabbing her hand into a bag of chips while messing with the radio. Just when Dean was about to point out that he, in fact, should be the one to choose the music, she gave him such a dead glare that Dean didn’t dare to say anything else.

It’s another long journey before they get to the border of the jungle, and from then on it’s them gathering provisions and even acquiring a horse from a nearby farm. Sophie insisted on that, specifically.

The men don’t find out too much about her. She’s vague on her age, though she can’t be older than Sam. When they ask what her mother is doing now that she’s retired, she simply says something in the lines of ‘probably the same thing we are’, and the question on how she came to become so familiar with the jungles is answered with a vague ‘pretty much spent my entire life here’, which can’t be that long since she’s not that old.

In turn, Sophie seems _very_ interested in their lives. She asks about Sam’s studies, about Dean’s expeditions in the past, and even Castiel’s field of knowledge.

Due to the years that have passed since Fawcett’s journey, they’re in fact not too distanced from modern society. That means that, while in the past they might have had to journey for days, they manage to get to the place called Dead Horse Camp in just two. Sweating, stung by multiple mosquitos and about ready to get some rest, Sophie suggests they set up camp here. Nobody’s ready to negate that suggestion, so they drop their stuff.

“You two, find some water. Me and Sam will set up the camp and start up dinner,” Sophie instructs. Dean and Castiel glance at each other before nodding. They’re both still slightly out of breath, not exactly jumping at the idea of having to walk around some more.

“C’mon, Cas,” Dean mutters. In a slight sprint, he heads back into the forest, Castiel right behind him. “I think I heard a stream close by.”

Castiel pulls out his map, nodding in agreement. “Yes, the Rio Sao Fransisco, if I’m correct.” Dean keeps moving forward he suddenly can’t. Hearing the sound of the river, Dean leans over the edge, finding it underneath them. In front of them, a small branch of the river forms a waterfall.

“Look, we don’t have to go much further,” Dean points out. Castiel just groans in exhaustion.

“In case you haven’t noticed, there isn’t really a way for us to cross this pass,” he counters. Dean snorts.

“Have you met me? I can cross anything,” he assures him. He looks down at a fallen tree branch that should have been an excellent bridge, had it been longer. But, Dean’s sure he can see some edges he can hold on to on the other side. If he could jump there, he can pull himself back up.

“Just… be careful…”

Dean stops in his tracks, turning to Castiel with his eyebrows pulled together into a frown. Castiel sounds actually… worried? That’s weird.

“I’m always careful,” he says, putting a hand on his shoulder in assurance. Castiel doesn’t seem to convinced, especially after Dean offers him another reassuring smile. Then, without thinking too much about it, Dean steps onto the branch. He carefully takes step after step, knowing that it won’t hold out his entire weight for long. The end of it is rather thin, but before it breaks he’s sure he can make it.

“Dean?” he hears Castiel call out, and immediately after that he hears the first crack.

“Oh, crap,” he calls out before he starts running, kicking himself off the branch and reaching out for the sticking edge. The moment his fingers grab a hold of it, the Earth crumbles under his hands and he falls down.

“Dean!”

But Dean manages to hold on to something. A relieved shout escapes his lips, and quickly he looks up, seeing Castiel leaning over the edge to see if he’s alright. Behind him, the branch he had just used to get to the other side falls down into the deeper river.

“Holy shit, that was wild,” Dean shouts. Castiel gets back on his feet, disappearing from view for a bit before eventually returning.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!” Castiel sounds genuinely upset, it’s rather puzzling. Instead of answering, Dean climbs up at last, getting himself on the other side of the pass. There, he lies down on his back.

“Just, throw me your bottles,” Dean breathes out slowly, holding up his hand in a waving matter.

“No way, I’m getting there, too. Throw me your rope.”

“My what?”

“Just throw me the freaking rope, Dean!”

Dean sits up, finding Castiel standing there, looking extremely determined to cross the path. Dean can’t hold back the smirk, but then he stands up at last, loosening the rope from his belt and holding to one end before throwing the other end in Castiel’s direction. He grabs it easily before he ties it onto his belt.

“Dude, Cas you sure about this?” Dean asks carefully.

“Hold on tightly, please.” And then Cas jumps. Dean shouts in his surprise, readying himself for Castiel’s weight to make him lose his balance. He grunts the moment he feels it, gritting his teeth together as he tries to pull Castiel up.

“Goddamnit Cas,” Dean grunts while he pulls, taking a few steps back and hoping so very dearly that Castiel is actually climbing as well. He suddenly feels the weight disappear when he sees Castiel’s arms appear on the edge.

Dean keeps his hands on the rope until he reaches the other man, grabbing his arm and getting him up at last. Completely out of breath, he leans his hands on his knees. A laugh escapes from him.

“You crazy son of a bitch,” he snorts. After a long few seconds he heads for the river, to start filling up the bottles. “Why’d you want to cross so badly? It’s just some water, could have done it on my own.”

“I didn’t do it for the water, Dean,” Castiel negates. Dean looks up at him, finding Castiel pointing at something in the trees. That’s when he sees it, too. His eyes widen, his mouth falls open.

Standing there, hidden behind the leaves and branches of the trees, stands a large temple of sorts.

“Holy shit,” is all Dean manages.

 


	12. The Echonorians

It’s a quick radio call to Sam and Sophie to warn them of their find. Having forgotten all about filling up the bottles of water, Dean and Castiel both find themselves pulled towards the large temple.

The walls are of a grey stone, but they’re covered with vines and plants. There are a few statues up on it, most of them broken by the years. One of them, though, remains whole.

“Cassiel,” Castiel breathes out full of disbelief.

“It can’t be that we just _happen_ to stumble upon it, can it?” Dean wonders out loud.

“By now I think everything’s possible,” Castiel counters. He nods towards the building. “How about we get inside, huh?”

Dean doesn’t need a moment to think about it. Having found a complete new burst of energy, he starts up a slow jog to the entrance. Where there once used to be a door, now only remain broken pieces of wood. And this is not just from decay, this door has actually been forced open.

It’s dark inside of the temple, which isn’t too much of a problem for Dean. He takes out his light, waits for Castiel to start up his own one, and then the two enter carefully.

Nature has crept inside in a peaceful way. Where the walls have crumbled down, trees have started to grow. In the middle of the room seems to be some sort of altar. Torches and pots of incense are surrounding it.

“People worshipped their deity here,” Dean mutters. Passing his hand over the altar, he’s not too surprised to see the symbol once again carved down on it. It seems like this is the right place to be.

It’s also the first sign of civilization they’ve seen in the past two days, so it’s better than nothing.

“Dean, look at this,” Castiel calls out from a bit further away. When Dean turns, he sees Castiel stand in front of another statue. This one is not an Angel, for a change. It’s a simple man, though his face unrecognizable. “I think this must be Cassiel’s lover.”

There’s nothing that would insinuate that, but it seems like their best guess. Never have they come across a statue of just a man. Castiel kneels down to get something from the ground. When he gets back up, he looks down at it, sadly.

“Cas, what’s wrong?” Dean asks. Castiel is just about to open his mouth when the voices of Sam and Sophie come up.

“Guys? Where are you?”

Dean turns, and whatever Castiel was holding he hides away in his pocket. “We’re in here!”

Sam lets out a loud whistle when he enters the building. Sophie doesn’t seem to have any expressions installed into her system. It’s sort of disturbing.

“Okay, boys, I suggest we are extremely careful around here,” she warns them. Before anybody can ask her why, an arrow only just nearly misses Dean’s face, landing on the statue’s crotch with a loud thud and sticking into it.

“What the-?” he starts. Just as he’s about to pull out the gun he’s managed to acquire here, Sophie pushes down his hand.

“You most certainly shouldn’t do that,” she hisses. She takes a protective stance in front of them, Dean and Castiel both pressed against the statue while Sam is just standing awkwardly in the middle.

“The natives?” Sam’s question is valid, but rather pointless right now.

“Is it that obvious?” Sophie grunts. She’s holding out her hand, lowering her head and gesturing for the others to do the same. Then, in a language Dean can’t understand, she starts speaking.

Dean can’t see anything as he’s looking down. A few voices speak, more people appearing from the sound of it. Sophie keeps a conversation going this way up until the point where she tells them they can relax.

“It’s okay. The Enchonarians aren’t an aggressive people. We’re just intruding on sacred ground,” Sophie explains. When Dean finally looks up again, he finds that a total amount of five people have joined them. All of them are men, half-naked with only clothing made of leaves to cover them. They’re holding bows and arrows in their hands, but they’re no longer directed at something.

The Enchonarians guide them back out of the temple. One of them says something, and Sophie says something in return. Dean leans in Castiel’s direction.

“Not a chance that you can understand them?” he asks, though not that hopeful about it. Castiel scoffs.

“How would it be possible for me to understand what they’re saying?” Castiel sounds annoyed, and Dean just raises his hands in defeat.

“Chill, dude, I was just joking.”

Castiel isn’t responding, quickening his steps and marching away from Dean.

“What did you do, now?” Sam comes up, not at all minding his own business.

“Shut up, bitch.”

“Right back at ya, jerk.”

The Enchonarians guide them all the way to what must be their tribe. Once arriving, people look at them with wide eyes and surprise obvious in their gaze. Children would run off to their parents, while the adults would just remain where they are.

It all feels a bit weird, to be fair. The only scenario Dean would have imagined inside a native tribe was with arrows and daggers pointed at their throat. As it turns out, these people are in fact rather peaceful.

They stop in front of a large hut, and in front of it sits a man with what must be the most clothes of them all. He’s wearing a headpiece made of branches and feathers. When he speaks up, it’s with a low voice.

“He says that we’re welcome in his tribe,” Sophie translates. “And that we should consider ourselves friends of the people.”

Dean and Sam glance at each other. What the hell is happening?

“Another foreigner has been here only a few weeks ago, in search for answers according to the sacred symbol. They guided him on his way, but he hasn’t been heard of or seen, since.”

Dean catches Castiel’s hardening gaze. It’s as if he’s clenching his teeth really hard together. What was bothering him so suddenly?

“Do they know anything about Fawcett’s crew?” Sam asks Sophie, who then passes along the question to the chief. Sam then manages to pull up a picture of Fawcett that he found in the book at Bobby’s. Sophie hands it to the man in charge, who gives it a good look.

“Their ancestors met these people a long while back. They were sick and at the verge of dying, but their healers fixed them right up. One of the women of the tribe even fell in love with the son. After the company left again, she ended up pregnant with his child.”

So, Fawcett has been here. That means that they didn’t die at Dead Horse Camp!

“What happened with the woman and the child?” Castiel asks with a hard voice.

“She bore the child, and they raised it as a normal member of the tribe. But eventually, another expedition came by, and the child, now a full grown woman, decided to go along with them as she, too, fell in love with an outsider.”

“Jeesh, everybody keeps on falling in love,” Dean mutters. Sam agrees, nodding at his brother’s point.

“The chief is offering us a place to rest for the night. I suggest we accept their offer.” Sophie’s green gaze falls upon them, and the expression on her face makes it clear that she’s not in the mood for any complaint about it. Sam then shrugs, followed by Dean.

“Eh, fine by me,” they both say. Castiel stays quiet, but he seems to direct his attention completely at the chief, nodding at him gratefully. Then, a woman with long dark hair takes the doctor by the hand and pulls him along towards a hut. The same happens with Sam and Dean, who are guided to the same place Castiel has disappeared to. Only Sophie is taken in the opposite direction.

They’re offered food, and once the Enchonarians have brought up all their stuff they’ve left at Dead Horse Camp Dean takes the moment to wash himself up a bit in the lake. He’s enjoying the freshness of the water up to the point where he realizes he’s not exactly alone.

He can hear the girls giggling in the trees. His need to wash himself up has suddenly become less urgent.

After dinner, the Enchonarians insist on having some sort of party in their celebration. Some kids give Dean what seems like a flower crown, and he’s too polite to refuse it. He ignores his brothers laughs, instead owning it proudly.

Sam is given a necklace of tropical flowers, while Castiel, too, has been given a crown. He’s seated a bit further from them, still looking a bot down despite the happy atmosphere around them.

A woman asks Sam for a dance, which he accepts despite not understanding a single word she says. Sophie is having her fun with some of the children, actually laughing which Dean wouldn’t have expected to have seen her do.

Dean, too, gets dragged along to the campfire. The dance is not exactly a physical thing, the only thing touching being their hands. The woman dancing with Dean seems to be in her thirties, clearly pregnant which doesn’t seem to stop her. She looks like she’s having the time of her life, after all.

Having done the first round of the fire, Dean realizes that Castiel isn’t sitting at his place any longer. Did the guy actually run away? Is there seriously something wrong with him? Dean is now questioning the fact if he really has nothing to do with it?

Then the pregnant lady lets go of him, and somebody else bumps up against him. Dean grabs them by the arm, helping them back up. Much to his (strange) delight, he finds that it’s Castiel. The flower crown is tilted on his head and he looks a bit flushed.

“Apologies, the women kind of pushed me. I didn’t mean to fall into your arms,” he says quietly. Dean chuckles, taking Castiel’s hands into his own and continuing the dance he had started with the pregnant woman. Castiel, though a little hesitant at first, goes along with it. He doesn’t seem to dare to look up, but that doesn’t stop Dean to reach up for his head and put the crown right again.

“Not that it wasn’t kind of adorable, but it was at the verge of falling off I think,” he jokes. Castiel flushes even more than before.

“Adorable?” he asks. Dean startles.

“Oh, uh, I mean…”

He gets a laugh in return. Castiel’s gaze turns away, the smile on his lips. At least he looks better than he did before, which is something. Dean realizes he’s staring after a few seconds, and he clears his throat. Unintentionally, he squeezes Castiel’s hands.

Somebody bumps up against his back, a few people celebrating so heavily that they’re moving all around the place. In the back, he can hear a few children complain at their mother. It’s probably nearing bedtime for them.

“So, uh… we’re hanging out in a real tribe,” Dean tries.

“So it seems, yes.” Another person bumps up to him. Dean wonders why they’re still dancing like there’s a slow song playing, since the music is actually quite upbeat. The only instruments used are some sort of drum and a flute-like thing, along with some singing coming from an old guy.

Dean is aware of it, but at the same time it’s like his entire body is deciding to ignore it.

“Dean?”

He looks back at Castiel, suddenly realizing that they’re standing closer together than before. With all those people bumping up to him, they must have shifted a bit. Normally, Dean would pull away from the close proximity. With the dance, though… He just stays right where he is.

“Yes?”

Their eyes meet. Dean can swear that he feels Castiel’s breath on his cheeks. But then Castiel takes a step back, his hands letting go of Dean’s. Gently, he pats Dean on the chest

“I think I’ll go to sleep, now,” he says. Dean nods in understanding, finding himself only slightly disappointed at that news. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” Dean agrees. He watches Castiel retreat. It takes a few seconds before the music comes back up into his ears, and he realizes that everybody is staring. “What? What’s going on?”

Sophie just says something in the native language that he doesn’t understand, and everybody starts laughing.

 

Dean can’t sleep. The party buzz is still going strong, and he’s pretty sure that, whatever drink they gave him, it had some sort of alcohol level in it. His head is spinning slightly, and his ears are ringing despite there not being loud music nearby.

Next to him, Sam is snoring loudly, lying on his back with one hand reaching for Dean (Dean actually woke up with Sam’s freaking arm on his face) and the other one on his chest. With him around being so loud, he figures there won’t really be a chance for him to catch unconsciousness.

When he turns to the side, he finds Castiel there with his eyes closed and an uneasiness in his face. Dean wonders if he’s having another nightmare, and if he should wake him up, but he decides against it. He just gets off the wooden bed he’s been given and slowly gets out of the hut.

Outside, the entire tribe is asleep aside for the guards that stand watch. When they see Dean, they nod at him in greeting. Dean just waves at them, gesturing that he’s going to get something to drink. The guard points to somewhere on his left.

Where Dean would have expected a well or something, instead he gets the river again. Carefully, he puts his hands into the water and splashes it over his face. A grunt of annoyance comes out of him. He realizes that, if he doesn’t sleep at least a little bit, he won’t be as strong as he needs to be for the rest of the trek. But there’s this uneasiness that he just can’t shake.

“Can’t sleep, huh?”

Dean turns around, finding Castiel nearing him. He’s in the same state of undress as Dean, wearing only a shirt and their shorts. It’s too hot to wear an actual pajama.

“Not with he saw-factory lying next to me, no,” Dean counters. “I swear he wasn’t so bad in the past.”

Castiel chuckles before sitting down next to Dean, his bare feet getting into the water. Dean copies him, letting the water come up to his ankles.

“So, you’ve been kind of sad the entire evening?” Dean tries. Castiel shrugs. “You found something in that temple. What was it?”

Castiel hesitates for a few more seconds before he pulls up a necklace from underneath his shirt. Dean’s pretty sure that he hadn’t been wearing that one before.

“I got Jimmy this when I was a kid,” Castiel says. “It’s just the first letter of his name in Enochian. I carved it on a rock I found at a camp we were at back when we were ten.”

Dean looks at the symbol. It looks like a variation of the number seven. “This is a ‘j’?”

Castiel shakes his head. “Not exactly,” he admits. “The Enochian alphabet doesn’t exactly have all the letters we have. This letter might as well be the ‘i’ or the ‘y’. The ‘j’ specifically doesn’t exist.

Dean lets go of the necklace and Castiel hides it back away under his shirt.

“So, if this is here, that means that Jimmy was here, too?”

Castiel nods stiffly, his gaze distant as it looks into the dark forest ahead of them.

“Listen, Dean. I haven’t been entirely honest about my intentions of coming along on this trip. I mean, I am most certainly trying to find out about the symbol, but… it’s not the only reason I’ve insisted on coming along.”

“Jimmy is searching for it, too, isn’t he?”

There’s no answer, so Dean figures that he’s right. He hums in understanding, clasping his hands together while lifting his feet up before dropping them back down in the water.

“Why didn’t you just tell us?”

Castiel sighs. “Because Jimmy is looking for the symbol because of me,” Castiel explains. “He knew that I wanted to find more about it, but that I’m more of a scholar than a… you know, somebody who gets their hands dirty. He found somebody willing to work with him, and they headed out. Sometimes when they needed Enochian translation, they’d send me the texts and I’d look them over, but other than that I wasn’t really very included into it.

“It’s been about a month since I’ve last heard from Jimmy, now. I know it’s not as long as I claimed we wouldn’t speak to each other, but… we’re twins. We might not always tell each other were we are, but at least we let each other know that we’re alive.”

“Your brother disappeared around the same time my Dad did,” Dean realizes. “Do you think they started working together?”

“It is possible, I never met his associate. Just that the guy also had his reasons to find out the truth of the symbol.”

Dean looks at Castiel, seeing that focus onto his expression. His lips are pressed into a tight line, his head resting on his hand, elbow on his leg. There’s a light breeze getting into his hair, and it’s clear that he’s in need of another shave.

“What was your _real_ reason?” Dean eventually asks. Castiel seems to startle at the question.

“I’m sorry?” he asks. Dean shrugs, making sure that Castiel knows it’s not that big of a deal.

“Why are you really looking for the symbol?”

Castiel closes his eyes, a long breath escaping through his nose. Then he reaches for the sleeve of his shirt and he lifts it up, revealing his right shoulder.

Which is showing the exact same brand Dean has.

“You-“ he starts, but he doesn’t know how to finish that. For such a long time, he thought he was the only one. But now, for the first time in a while, he suddenly feels less lonely for some reason. It’s weird, because it’s not like he’s ever felt really excluded because of the brand. It was just… it made him weird in a group of normal people. And now, finally, Dean has met somebody who is as ‘weird’ as him.

“I think we’re involved in something much greater than we would have imagined, Dean.” Castiel lowers down his sleeve once again. “I don’t know if we’re going to like what we’ll find.”

Dean then lifts up his left hand, putting it on Castiel’s shoulder. Carefully, he squeezes it.

“I’m pretty sure we can handle it, buddy,” he returns. Castiel’s smile just looks grim, like he’s not too sure about that. But, really, what’s the worst that can happen? It’s not like Dean believes in any of that Angel-crap, after all. It’s probably all just some crazy coincidence. Maybe, in some manner, they are actually related or something, which would explain the mark.

He guesses they’ll have to figure that out tomorrow. They still have a lot of ground to cover, and he doubts these people here know where to point them towards.

“C’mon, let’s get back to sleep.”

Castiel nods, following Dean back towards their hut where Sam seems to have chosen to ease up on the snoring. That’s a relief, at least. He goes lie down on his cot, waiting for Castiel to do the same. Then, once Castiel seems to have installed himself, he closes his eyes at last. This time, he falls asleep easily enough.

 

Sophie is not going easy on them.

Being familiar with the jungle for some reason, she walks in the front, followed by Castiel. Sam is right behind him, while Dean is simply staying behind because at least that way he can look out for his brother. Constantly looking around to see if they’re not chased by some wild animal, he realizes that he’s extremely on edge.

They were awakened early in the morning by their guide, who told them to get dressed and get something to eat in them before they left again. With fresh provisions with them, which they’ll have to eat first, they’re ready for the new day. Their horse, which Dean has decided to name “Whirlwind” for reasons he can’t explain, occasionally stumbles over the branches and roots of the trees, but other than that it doesn’t seem to hate this journey too much. When they get near the lake again, it takes a few sips of water before rejoining them in its slow steps.

From behind, Dean can see that Castiel is talking to Sophie. He wonders if the doctor actually manages to get anything interesting out of her, since she’s not exactly an open book. Every question they’ve asked her yesterday was answered with a shrug or an evasion. Dean can understand wanting anonymity, but she doesn’t even seem interested in small talk.

Sam is slowing down in his steps until he’s walking alongside Dean. Then he nudges him in the side, grin wide on his face.

“You think anything’s going on between those two?” he asks, wiggling his eyebrows like the teenager he’s acting out to be.

“Dude? What? No! No way!” Dean’s expression turns into one of disgust at the thought of that. “C’mon, Sam, what the fuck even?”

Sam holds up his hands, seeming a bit surprised by Dean’s reaction. “Calm down, man, it was just a joke,” he assures him. Dean just scoffs in return, quickening his steps. Next to him, the horse lets out a snort.

“Well, that joke sucked.”

He can see Sam roll his eyes before he takes the reins of the horse and walks forward faster than Dean, leaving the older Winchester as the last of the group. Dean just grumbles inaudible words under his breath, putting his hands in his pockets while he kicks away a branch.

Once he can only see Sam’s back in front of him, Dean slaps himself on the forehead. What the fuck was that, even? Why did he have to act like such a child about that?

He’s about ready to just shoot something, but he knows that’s not a good idea. Instead, he keeps on watching his steps to make sure not wo walk on a wild snake or anything like that. The constant danger of wildlife should be terrifying, but it only barely keeps Dean on edge.

What really does, though, he can’t say. He’s just uneasy, for some reason. Maybe it’s something deep inside of him telling him that Bobby might be right, and that they’re in way over their heads. But it’s too late, now.

When the sun is at its highest, Sophie declares a lunch break. She and Cas start up a fire to warm up some food, while Sam tends for the horse. Dean takes out the map of the jungle, once again cursing the fact that this is practically uncharted territory when it comes to the secrets inside.

When Sophie hands him something to eat he puts aside the map, deciding that he won’t become any wiser of it. Cas goes to sit down to his left. He gives Dean a small smile when their eyes meet, but he doesn’t say anything. Dean just nods in return. Sophie, in turn, sits down in front of them. Her eyes are stuck on them, as if they’ve become her object of study. Right when Dean is about to point it out, she beats him to it.

“So, you two known each other for long?” she asks. She leans back against the tree, giving them a little smirk before stuffing her spoon full of soup in her mouth.

“Not really. We met each other a few weeks ago,” Cas answers honestly. It’s strange how it’s true; they don’t even know each other that long! The beginning of November? It’s nearing the end of the month now. Time flies when you’re traveling around the world.

“Really? It seemed to me that you knew each other rather well.” Sophie shrugs, poking her spoon back into her can. “You know, the Echonorians are really invested to love. It’s something sacred to them.”

“Is it now? I wouldn’t have been able to tell that,” Dean scoffs, thinking back of that story about Fawcett’s son who had a child with one of the tribe members.

“You shouldn’t mock it, Winchester. They know love when they see it.” Sophie points her spoon at Dean with a grin on her face. It’s weird to see her like this after almost two days of nearly no emotion coming from her. “You never wondered why they gave you a flower crown?”

Is she baiting them? It feels like it, and Dean has no idea why? People are acting strange, lately.

“Nah, never wondered about it,” Dean returns with a shrug. Cas, though, just leans forward.

“I was wondering why we were offered the crowns while Sam got the necklace,” he admits. Dean gives him an unimpressed look, and Castiel shrugs as well. “What? I’m not joking.”

“I know you aren’t.” Dean rolls his eyes and looks down to the ground, feeling like he won’t be able to avoid this lesson on different cultures.

But Sophie says nothing. She’s just grinning, still, while finishing her soup. Then she pulls out some of the bread, takes a big bite out of it, and starts speaking about something different. “The Echonorians have been in this jungle for a long while, but there are a few of them that moved into modern society only to return on certain occasions. Luckily, the tribe is rather diverse and doesn’t hate strangers on sight.”

“How did you befriend them?” Cas asks curiously, once again leaning forward in anticipation for the answer. “You said that you were practically raised in this jungle. Did you grow up with them, perhaps?”

Sophie lifts up her finger. “Never said I was raised here, just said that I’ve nearly spent my entire life here.”

“How does that make sense? You’re, like, in your twenties?” Dean feels completely confused now. The green in Sophie’s eyes seem to shine for a moment, before Dean realizes it’s just from the sun above them, sneaking through the trees.

“I met the Echonorians when me and my …mother were going through the jungle. They were sceptic at first but my mother won over their trust eventually. Just spending a lot of time with their tribe was enough to learn their basic language.”

“Incredible,” Sam’s voice suddenly pops up from next to Dean. He hadn’t even heard him join them, but here he is, sitting there in all his gigantic glory. “So, then, why was it that they gave me the necklace and them the crown?”

Sophie shrugs. “Must have thought they were a couple. They give the crowns to young couples to wish them fertility, is all.”

“What the hell?”

“Obviously they knew fertility wouldn’t do you two any good, but it’s tradition, no matter the kind of couple.”

“Amazing,” Cas then gets out. “So this tribe is completely open to homosexuality? Aren’t they supposed to ensure procreation?”

“Yeah, but also they’re supposed to avoid overpopulation. They don’t want to become the biggest tribe in the jungle. That attracts danger, after all. They reach for a good stability with it, and if that means having some guys get together or girls, they don’t mind at all.”

Dean just grunts while he gets himself on his feet. Packing up his stuff, he starts walking back to the horse.

“Dean, where are you going?” Sam asks in confusion.

“Just gonna stretch my legs,” he mutters in return.

“Dude, we’ve been walking for two days now, I figure your legs are pretty stretched, no?”

Dean flips him off, passing his hand over the nose of the horse before putting his stuff into his pack. He’ll wash it up at the next river they’ll find.

Just a little walk alone. It’ll clear his mind, after all. Just for a moment he can’t stand Sophie, no matter how precious his brain tells him she is. He can’t stand Cas and his everlasting curiosity, or Sam’s obliviousness about everything that seems to be wrong around here.

He can’t stand this annoying wrongness that’s been going on inside of him the entire time. It’s like he’s been even more on edge the moment he got into the jungle. As if it’s driving him insane. It almost seems possible like everything in here is conspiring against them. God damnit, how he wishes he was at home right now.

But… he can’t even remember what home is. After Cassie… he’s just been spending his nights in various motels, and sometimes even his car. He has no house to return to. He has nothing…

Mind deep in thought, Dean misses the branch that catches on his foot. Before he knows it, he feels the ground disappear from under his feet. A small shriek he’ll never admit of letting out fills the air around him. Then there’s the ‘oof’ that he gets out when he collapses on the ground, rolling down the hill. Whenever he tries to grab for a branch to stop his fall it breaks under his hands. He has no idea where he’s going to end up.

It comes sooner than he thinks. Landing on his side, Dean groans from the pain of the twigs and stones digging into his skin. He’s got a few countless splinters and he’s pretty sure he ripped his pants at the knees.

The world seems to be turning when he gets back up. He puts a hand on his head while the other reaches for something to stabilize him. It was quite a drop down, but he figures he’ll be able to climb it back up if he finds the right spot.

Something cracks from a bit away. Dean turns, seeing his communicator lying under a couple of leaves.

“ _Dean, come in. Where are you?”_ That’s Sam’s voice. Limping a bit due to the hit his knee took, Dean grabs for the walkie and presses the button to speak.

“I’m here. I fell down. About south-west from where you guys were,” Dean returns.

“ _Shit, are you okay? Can you tell me where exactly you are?”_

Dean looks down at his knee, seeing his pants now have an ugly red stain. Great. But he shouldn’t focus on that. Instead, he turns around, trying to find something identifying to guide Sam along the way.

But what he sees when he turns makes his mouth drop.

“ _Dean, are you still there?”_

Dean lifts up the device, eyes still open wide.

“I’m here. And you won’t believe what I just found.”


	13. The lost city of Z

It’s going to be one amazing tale to tell one day at Christmas dinners with the family. People will gasp of disbelief, not at all thinking it plausible that it happened. That there’s no way that this is real. And Dean will just tell them everything that happened; that he just stopped watching where he was going, that he tripped over a stupid root, and that he ended up face-first into the ground.

Right in front of a lost, ancient city.

It stands there, tall and proud. Lots of abandoned, wilted buildings that have been attacked by nature over the many years that they’ve been here. If the buildings aren’t grey, they’re mostly green from the moss growing over it.

It’s impossible to say what purpose every building has, as most of the ruins are just simple pillars that stubbornly remain on their spot. But there are a few places that seem fairly untouched by time, which every inch of Dean aches to inspect.

“You’re not going to tell me that you actually ‘stumbled’ into this place,” Sam mutters behind him with his arms crossed in front of his chest, though despite his initial disbelief he seems pretty impressed now that he’s seeing it right in front of him.

“Dude, did I just damage my knee to make it a fun story?” Dean returns, pointing at his hurt leg. He’s not sure if it’s still bleeding or not. At least the red stain on the fabric isn’t getting bigger, which should mean the latter, right?

“I wouldn’t put it past you.” Sam is smirking now before punching Dean on the shoulder. “C’mon, let’s have a look around.”

Sam takes the first steps into the city, though Dean doesn’t when he hears some noise behind him. Turning around, he finds Castiel nearly tumbling to the ground in the descend. Dean immediately reaches out for him to stop his fall.

“Thank you, Dean,” Cas says in gratitude. Next to them, Sophie lands with a graceful jump, tying the horse to a tree to avoid it running away before following Sam into the city.

“Great job, Winchester!” she tells Dean, poking him the side when she passes him. Then she’s gone into the first building she comes across.

Dean turns back to Cas, realizing he’s still holding him. Quickly he lets him go, passing his hand through his hair before pointing his thumb behind him.

“We should explore, shouldn’t we?” he asks. Cas nods, marching forward. With the ache still fresh on his knee, Dean finds himself limping after him. He thinks he can hide it pretty well. It’s not that bad, he’s been through worse. Just a night of rest will fix him right up.

“You think this is this ‘Z’ Fawcett kept talking about?” he hears Sam say from somewhere above him. Looking up, Dean finds his brother on the second floor of what seems like some sort of shop or something. He’s holding a cup in his hand, lifting it up as if he’s toasting.

“I dunno, it’s possible, but it’s rather strange that no-one ever just ‘stumbled’ into this place before,” Dean returns. Cas nods in agreement, picking up something from the ground that looks like some sort of metal doll. It looks creepy, and mostly like a safety-hazard.

The two continue on, finding more small houses, but with nothing really interesting in them. There are a few documents, but mostly the papers are unreadable. Time and humidity of the location have a lot to do with that.

“Dean, you’re bleeding.”

Ah, shit, he hoped nobody would notice. But now he can hear the worry in Cas’ voice as he’s discovered Dean’s fresh wound.

“Uh, yeah. It’s not that bad, just scratched myself with the fall,” he admits. Then he sits down on a stone bench to inspect the source of the bloodloss. He won’t see much through this hole, but there’s no way in hell he’s taking off his pants.

“Let me see.” Castiel kneels in front of him, carefully pulling Dean’s pants up over his knee and actually succeeding at it, much to Dean’s surprise. At least he won’t have to sit here in his underwear to have the guy look it over.

“Seriously, Cas, it’s not that bad,” Dean attempts to reassure the other man, but he’s pretty obviously ignored. Though, when Cas touches it Dean finds himself hissing as a first response, pulling his leg back to get it away from Cas’ fingers.

“Yes, I can definitely see that,” Cas returns dryly. Then he takes off his pack and opens it up, only to reveal a first aid kit. “I’ll clean it up a bit.”

Dean stays quiet. He knows when to complain and when to listen, and he’s pretty much aware of the fact that complaining won’t convince Cas to stop it. So he just lets him do what he does, hissing whenever the gauze with antiseptic touches the wound.

“You shouldn’t hide your injuries like that. It’s not good to be in pain,” Cas suddenly chastises him. Or, at least it feels like he does. He gives Dean an unimpressed glare, to which Dean only rolls his eyes at.

“I wasn’t in pain, I was doing just fine,” he mutters. When Cas pokes a bit harder against the wound Dean nearly yelps. “Okay, okay! I get your point. Stop torturing me!”

Cas only smirks after that. While he carefully keeps on taking care of the knee, Dean looks around for a bit. There are a lot of trees right above them, which would explain why nobody has found this city from air before. But that would put in question how they managed to survive for however long they did. After all, there isn’t even any open space nearby for as far as Dean could see. That would make it hard to have any agriculture in here.

By the time Cas is finished with cleaning the wound and putting something on it to protect it they’re joined by Sophie, who eyes them curiously.

“You guys haven’t seen anything of the city yet, have you?” she asks.

“No, because Cas suddenly wanted to be a doctor so badly,” Dean counters.

“Given the fact that I am a doctor, that would be impossible, Dean.”

Dean looks him straight in the eyes, trying to make clear just how unimpressed he is by that comment. Castiel only smirks again. He’s already packed up his stuff and put it back into his bag.

“Well, on the first sight there doesn’t seem to be anything closely related to the symbol,” Sophie admits the moment Dean gets back on his feet. “I know Sam’s still looking around, but I doubt we’re in the right place.”

“So you’re saying this random ancient city that somehow nobody has ever found before has nothing to do with our symbol?” Dean scoffs at the idea. “C’mon, Soph, we haven’t been here for this long. I’m sure we’ll find something.”

Dean stands up, testing out his knee for a moment before moving further into the city. He finds his brother quickly enough, joining him in silence. Sam is observing some sort of mural on the wall, the art-style rather unfamiliar to Dean.

“What do you think? ‘Bout a thousand years old, no?” Sam passes his hand over the etchings on the wall.

“It’s possible,” Dean agrees. “It’s amazing how nature has completely reclaimed this territory…”

“Yeah.”

The two brothers look around for a few moments more before Sam clears his throat. “Wanna, uh… want to check it out together? Like how we dreamed of doing when we were kids?”

Dean grins, memories piling up in his mind. Those were good times, despite Sam hating the business. He was always curious about lost cities rather than collecting treasures. This right here’s just about the jackpot for him.

“I sense there’s gonna be some climbing around in the very near future,” Dean jokes in return. He holds up his hand and Sam gives it the high five, right before the brothers start their run through the old buildings.

For the following three hours they find themselves exploring. Climbing every climbable building, inspecting every bit of information they find. But eventually even Dean has to admit that, just maybe, Sophie might be right about this place.

The symbol is nowhere to be found. Nothing here indicates that it has any connection with Cassia. Which means that, despite making another incredible archeological find, they’re still at nothing.

They hold the large temple for last, mostly because it’s rather difficult to get to with the ruined stairs. Even climbing will prove to be difficult.

“I’ll go first,” Dean tells them. “Then I’ll throw a rope down and you’ll climb up.”

The others all agree, though Dean quickly regrets offering to go up first. With the slipperiness of the edges, more often than not does his hand slip away whenever he grabs something. Ten whole minutes does it last until he finally manages to get his arms over the top edge. With his feet digging in the dirt, he pushes himself up. His knee is burning, his heart thumping like crazy, and meanwhile from underneath his brother is constantly shouting words of encouragement.

But Dean sticks to the plan. He attaches his rope to a nearby tree that looks sturdy enough, and then he throws down the rope. But rather than waiting on them to join him, he continues on the remaining stairs to get to the entrance of the temple.

“This place is insane,” Dean mutters. It really is; where he would have expected Mayan culture all around, he finds that there’s a lot that indicates the Greek around here, too. It’s mostly in the form of the buildings, the pillars. Inside the houses, the pots, all ornaments indicate a Greek art form. So, even if they find nothing about the symbol, this should be note-worthy enough to indicate a link, no?

Or maybe Dean’s just finding connections where there aren’t any.

“Dude, thanks for waiting,” Sam mutters once he’s joined him.

“Please, I did all the hard work here,” he returns. “Now, c’mon, let’s find out what this whole place is about.”

The first thing Dean thinks about is just how dark it is here. Even with his flashlight, he’s mostly worried about all the things he’s going the miss like this.

“I can’t see a thing,” he hears Cas mutter a bit further behind him.

“Wait, I think there’s a torch back here. Maybe I can light it up.” That’s Sophie’s voice. Dean’s about to point out that it’s mostly unlikely she’ll get it burning, but then suddenly a source of light appears on the wall. It’s something, but it’s not much.

And then, as if the universe wants to prove him wrong, all the torches in the room suddenly light up, illuminating the entire place in just a matter of seconds. Dean takes a surprised step back, nearly bumping up to Cas who turns out to have been standing closer than he imagined.

“Sorry,” he mutters, squeezing his shoulder shortly before returning his attention to the place around them.

“Well that wasn’t creepy at all.” Sam sounds a bit suspicious, and Dean has to agree with that sentiment.

“It’s not like this place is haunted or anything,” Sophie counters with an eye roll.

“Could still be booby-trapped.” They’ve been in their fare share of situations like that, with only their luck there to keep them alive. Dean’s not eager to test it out again. “I say we just watch where we’re going and-“

CLICK. There it is. The sound of it right under his foot. Dean looks down, seeing the tile he’s stepped on, pressed deeper into the floor.

“You were saying?” Cas asks with a nervous tone in his voice. Dean just chuckles in embarrassment, wondering how he manages to get himself in these types of situations all the time.

The door to the temple closes behind them with a loud crash.

“Dean!” Sam complains.

“Oh, c’mon, how many traps have you accidentally set off in your life?!”

“How about we start panicking about that sound?” Cas pulls on the sleeve of his arm before pointing towards the wall. “I think this wall is getting closer to us?”

And he’s right. The low rumbling underneath them seems to emerge from the four walls around them that are nearing in on their location. It’s slow, but it’ll get them eventually. There doesn’t seem to be anything here that would serve as their escape.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Dean mutters to himself. He shines his flashlight everywhere, trying to find anything that would help them out in this situation. Nothing, nothing, nothing! It’s just a big case of nothing!

“Does anybody still have their gun?” Sophie asks. There’s a panic in her voice Dean hasn’t heard before, which is rather unsettling. Dean reaches for his belt, finding much to his relief that his gun is indeed still there. He takes it out simultaneously with Sam.

Sophie points towards the ceiling slowly lowering down. “There, at the corner, there’s the switch. Somebody has to aim at it and shoot it.”

“Won’t that break the freaking thing?” Dean isn’t too sure about it.

“Just trust me!” Sophie pleads. Dean hesitates only for a few seconds longer before he and Sam aim their guns, and both shoot at the same time. One bullet, whose they won’t ever know, hits the target and makes the rumbling stop. After that, the ceiling and the wall move back up, the torches that died down flaming up again.

Sophie leans against Dean, pressing her hand against her chest while she lets out a heavy breath.

“That was insane,” she exclaims. Then her eyes meet Dean’s and she stands up straight again. “Thank you for trusting me. I know I haven’t exactly been giving you a reason to do so in the past few days so…”

Dean doesn’t know what to say to that. Instead, he turns to look at Cas, realizing all so suddenly how much of an ass he was towards him in the beginning. He should probably start to give people some slack.

“You’re welcome,” he finally responds, though he never looks away from Castiel, who is helping Sam get rid of some of the dust in his hair. Sophie simply grabs his shoulder after that, earning his attention once again.

But she doesn’t say anything. Instead, she wraps her arms around his shoulder, pulling him closer into a hug. Dean’s surprise is high, especially when Sophie doesn’t seem like she’s intending to let go, soon. When, eventually, she does pull away, Dean’s only right on time to spot a tear in her eye, which she quickly rubs away.

“Okay, let’s just move on,” she then says much like Dean would do when a situation gets too filled with emotion. She passes Dean, marching towards a large door he suddenly realizes wasn’t there before.

He hurries after her, signaling for his brother and Cas to follow as well. Sophie opens the door without much trouble, now revealing another dark room in front of them. Dean quickly grabs one of the torches off the wall and takes it inside, lighting up the place a bit.

“Hey, there’s this weird round-shaped thing here.” Sam waves at Dean to get to him. “Come closer, I can’t see what it is.”

Dean listens to his brother, taking steps to the weird round figure that seems to be floating in the air. The closer he gets, the more he notices the wire holding it up. He also realizes that the shapes on the figure are, in fact, the continents. This is a globe. But why is it hanging here?

“I think you can light it up,” Sam says. Dean holds his torch closer to have a look inside. He figures there won’t be much harm in trying. He puts the torch inside through one of the holes. After he pulls back, the fire inside of it flames on, and shadows are cast over the entirety of the room.

“Whoa,” Dean breathes out. The globe rotates around its axis, light passing over their faces before being followed by the shadows of the ocean.

“You think it’s trying to show us a place to go to?” Cas asks. He points towards the continent now almost passing over his feet. “That’s Asia.”

“And here’s Europe.” Sam follows suit. They look over each continent, but none of the lights nor the shadows seem to show any type of clue. That is, until Cas’ notices it.

“I’ve got a shape here. I think it’s a country…”

“Do you recognize which one?”

“I think…” Cas hums pensively while he thinks. “Can anybody point Africa in this direction?”

“Dude, this thing is probably incredibly hot. Nobody’s gonna touch that…” Dean shivers at the thought of burning his fingers by even trying.

“We need to find a way, then…” Cas looks around. “Doesn’t anybody have a knife?”

And that’s just it, right? Because none of them has a knife. It’s never been something to bring along, after all, though now Dean realizes that it would be better to do so.

“I have a knife.”

It’s Sophie who saves their lives. Holding up the utensil they so desperately need, the light of the fire gleams into the metal, she gets it towards the globe to stick it inside. Twisting it a bit, she manages to get it so it turns along with her, though she quickly grunts out in pain. When she lets go of the knife, it sticks into the globe.

“Sorry, the flames bite,” she apologizes. The moment she tries to reach for it again, Dean stops her.

“I’ll do it,” he assures her. Sure, he’s not looking forward to have his hands burned, but rather him than her. He grabs a tissue from his back pocket and wraps it around his fingers. Then he takes the handle, grabbing tight and turning it in the direction Cas wants him to.

“A little bit more to the left,” he instructs. “Up, more, more. That’s too much. Now more to the left and- no you’re too far again.”

“Does it have to fit perfectly?” Dean grumbles, feeling the heat biting into the tissue.

“Here we have it,” Cas ignores him. “South Africa. But… there’s something written here.”

Sam and Cas huddle together to check it out, while Dean grits his teeth together. “Could you hurry it up there?”

“There’s something about… ‘the further you get, the more inaccessible it becomes.’.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Dean holds on for a few seconds more before he lets go as well. There’s a flash that blinds him, he shakes his hand for a bit, blowing on them to cool them off a bit. Sam and Cas are once again covered in shadows, but they don’t seem to move from where they are. Then, much to Dean’s delight, his brother is holding the camera in his hands.

“Tell me you two found out at least  _something_?” He puts his painful hand against his mouth, licking his wounds almost literally.

“I think so,” Cas reveals. “Ever heard of Tristan da Cunha?”

Dean shrugs. Doesn’t ring a bell.

“It’s a small group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The main island of that group is commonly named that way. It’s about 1,511 miles off the coast of Cape Town.” Castiel pulls out the map of the world, taking out his flashlight and gesturing for them all to join him. Dean quickly pulls out the knife and drops it down on the ground to let it cool off before he gets to the others.

Cas points at a location next to South Africa, somewhere in the middle of the ocean.  

“It’s so small, so you can’t even see it on the map. But somewhere here should be an island called ‘Inaccessible’, which is next to Tristan.”

“Wait, so you think that whoever wrote this means it literally?” Sam wonders.

“It’s possible? It’s about all I could make out of it, really.”

“Am I wrong to guess that they called it that way because it’s really easy to access?”

Nobody answers to that. Instead they all startle when some sort of explosion goes out from outside. Everybody jumps up on their feet, instantly prepared for trouble.

“Jaune?” Sam asks.

“Who else do you think it could be?” Dean grits his teeth together, his hand reaching for the gun on his belt. “Grab your knife, Sophie.”

It’s not a gun, and probably not helpful, but Dean feels a lot better knowing she at least holds some kind of weapon with her. They need to get out of here, and if possible they need to do it without being seen. Luckily, that’s something Dean’s pretty good at.

They exit the temple after killing off the fire. Dean gestures them to follow him. Sam, meanwhile, checks if his gun is fully loaded.

“I don’t really have a lot of ammo with me,” he admits. Dean knows that he, too, doesn’t have too much on him.

“I guess we’ll have to borrow some from these guys if we need it.”

On their way out, Dean notices something on the ground they’ve missed before. It looks like a piece of paper, not as old as the rest around here. It’s probably something they’ve dropped as they searched the place. He’d rather not leave any evidence behind, so he picks it up and folds it into his pocket. He’ll have a look at it when they’re out of here.

Once they are outside they hide away behind the walls. They had left their rope there for when they’d need to climb back down. Now it seems like Jaune’s men found it. Dean’s left hand reaches out for the person next to him, pressing them against the wall with a sign to stay quiet.

“You know, I could help out if I had a gun, too,” Cas whispers next to him, though not removing Dean’s hand from his chest.

“We only have two of them,” he returns. “We’ll snag you one from these dudes.”

Castiel doesn’t respond to that. Instead he pushes off Dean’s arm at last, sneaking off to the side of the wall and suddenly grabbing for something. Appearing from around the corner is a guard he must have hear approaching. He smashes the guy’s face against the wall, leaving him unconscious.

 _And he’s doing it again_ , Dean thinks to himself. He doesn’t wait to see Cas picking up the guard’s rifle and his ammo. Instead he gestures for Sam to go around, sneak off to the other side and get the guy there, while Dean will try to approach to take out the others.

Sophie follows closely to Cas, which Dean doesn’t mind. He knows now that Cas can take care of himself. He’s a sneaky bastard, after all.

They take care of the guards at the temple without being noticed. Stocking up on ammo, Dean finds his guy was carrying a shotgun around. He straps it over his shoulder, taking the extra handgun and handing it to Sophie.

“You know how to shoot?”

“Pull the trigger, it’s not that hard,” Sophie answers. Dean’s about to point out that it’s a bit more complicated than that when Sam calls out for them.

“We need to get down, now. Everybody take some of the guards’ jackets and climb down that rope. We won’t stand out too much like that.”

For a jungle, the guards chose quite a good attire; a neutral green that doesn’t stand out too much. For Sophie, they grab along one of their caps to hide away her long hair. Then, one by one they climb down. Sam goes first, followed by Sophie and Cas while Dean goes last. Before getting to the ground, Dean reaches for one of the edges he used to climb up. With that, he cuts the rope to avoid more of Jaune’s men climbing up.

“Good thinking, now hurry down.”

Sam is good at throwing commands. Dean finds himself grumbling in silence the entire way down, annoyed at the speed he’s forced to take. It means there’s more chance for him to fall, and if he does that they’ll surely be found.

Jaune’s men are everywhere. There’s some smoke where the initial explosion must have happened, though why they blew something up is beyond Dean. Besides, how did they even find this place? Could Jaune have possibly made the link himself? Or is he working with somebody that does that work for him?

“- just find them quickly so we can get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.”

More of Jaune’s men coming up. Disguised as one of their own, Dean and Sam get out of their hiding spot to approach them. They barely notice them.

“Yeah, well, we lost the element of surprise thanks to that moron. Accidentally setting off the bombs? He blew up half our supplies.”

“Yeah, the idi-“

The man never manages to finish his sentence. Dean and Sam simultaneously take them down when they don’t expect it, dragging them down into the high grass and hiding their knocked out bodies from sight. When Dean turns back to check on Cas and Sophie, he sees them do the same to two more men on the other side.

Good, they’re doing good. Dean’s impressed. Now they just need to get to their horse and run the fuck out of here. He wonders if the man himself, Jaune in person, is here as well. This is quite a dangerous place, so is it possible he would risk his life in the wild of the jungle just to find them? And then what? He’s been following  _them_  around all the time. If he stops them, how does he even hope to find the City?

Something stings Dean on the arm. Another damn mosquito. Dean swaps it off, rubbing at the aching spot on his skin. Careful about the men around him, he takes cover behind the walls of a broken building. He reloads, inspects the area around him, and then he climbs up. He’s not surprised to see one of Jaune’s men on the upper floor, sweeping around the place with a rifle in search for them. Dean gestures for Sam, throwing him his shotgun. After all, Dean’s always been the better shot with far-ranged weapons.

A hard knock on the guy’s head is enough to take him down. He instantly takes the rifle, looking it over to inspect how good it is and if there’s enough ammo. He’s got ten rounds, so he’ll have to make each one of them count.

Somewhere down, he sees Cas drag a guard down in the grass. He feels close to cheer for him. Cas is on a roll!

He jumps from building to building, slowly taking out the enemy one by one. For once, he feels like, finally, they’re going to make it without being noticed, he’s sure of that.

“They’re here!” somebody shouts.

And then the shooting starts. Dean sees his brother jump out of his hiding spot and dive into the high grass before running across the street. There he sees Cas and Sophie, both of them already raising up their guns to fire back. Dean groans in annoyance. He prepares the rifle, making use of his hidden location by at least taking down the ten people he can hit with this rifle.

He loves the sound that comes from it. It’s got this metal ‘cling’ that he’s always enjoyed hearing. Every time that sound gets to his ears, he sees one of Jaune’s men fall down. When the nearest five are down, he salutes towards the others to say: ‘you’re welcome’. Sam simply holds his thumb up.

But there’s more to come. The three on the ground advance to the next wave of Jaune’s men, while Dean hops up to the next building. With that floor being inaccessible, he climbs higher up. At least now he’s got an even better view.

“Hey, stay where you are!”

Dean startles, noticing that he’s not alone on this roof. Instead of listening to the command, he takes the guy out with his handgun, not wasting his sniper on this one. The guy goes down in an instant, but Dean’s pretty sure more are going to take his place. Instead of waiting for them he foregoes this roof to get to the next one.

Oh, he never misses being shot at. All the near-hits really aren’t something fun to bring up at family dinners. Most scars he’s got are from the bullet scrapes he’s got himself each time one of these jerks shoots just nearly right.

Dean shoots whatever he sees that approaches him. There’s no time to hesitate. He needs to make sure the guys on the ground make it out safely. And maybe find new ammo for the rifle.

But he can’t do any of that. By the time all the guys on the roof are down, he hears Sophie’s voice very clearly from downstairs. She’s shouting, sounding angry.

“Me solta, babaca!”

“Well, my, my, we got ourselves a feisty one, no? Surely a lot more spirit in her than the last kid y’all dragged along, wouldn’t you say?”

Dean’s entire body freezes on the spot. Because that’s him. That’s Jaune. He’s actually here.

Next to him stands Meg. Her long blonde hair is tied together, and her clothes are well assimilated to the location, though the look on her face looks like about the opposite of Jaune’s. While her father seems proud, she just looks at him with disgust.

Or maybe she’s looking at Sophie that way. Dean isn’t too sure.

“Now, boys, how about a talk, huh?”


	14. On the run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings in end notes

There are times in movies where the villain holds somebody hostage, and the hero knows exactly which choice to make. The obvious choice is to surrender and offer a trade, to get the hostage out of the dangerous situation and to take their place.

Lately, the movie industry has taken it upon itself to add more and more drama, including the occasional murder of said hostage right when the hero of the story thinks that they’ve got it done right. Dean hates it when that happens, because the only thing he can think of is all the possible ways the hero could have handled it better.

Things aren’t as easy in real life. Dean can’t just choose something, look at the outcome and think back of what to do better and just rewind. This is real life, where he actually has to make real-life decisions. Sophie is on the ground, her hands up in the air and fear obvious in her eyes. Sam and Cas are a bit further away, facing Jaune who is holding the girl with a gun pointed to her head. They, too, have their arms raised, guns dropped. They must have read the situation and agreed that there wasn’t really anything they could do in this position. Neither of them look up in the direction of where Dean is still hidden.

Dean has his gaze strictly set on Jaune. Through the vizor of the gun, he can see everything on Jaune’s face. His light eyes, hidden behind those awful yellow glasses. The wrinkles around his eyes when he smiles. The way he kind of sticks out his tongue sometimes.

He also focusses on Meg, Jaune’s daughter who doesn’t look like she’s about to help out anytime soon. She just stands there, her hands in her pockets with her eyes averted. She has a gun in the holster, but doesn’t look like she’s about to take it.

“Now let us see, huh? We’ve got our good friend Sam Winchester; now it’s been a while, champ. How’ve you been doin’ lately?” Jaune smiles once again. He just looks creepy and disgusting like this. Dean would rather just shoot him in the face, but Jaune could accidentally pull the trigger, take down Sophie along. That’s something to avoid at all costs.

“Golden,” Sam snaps back. “You know, I love being shot at and chased all over the world by the man who murdered my mother.”

Jaune lets out the most disgusting laugh at that, putting his hands on his belly. “My, my, Samuel. I would never wish to harm your mother. She was rather a lovely lady, really. She just had this nasty habit of getting in the way sometimes. Much like you and your brother, really.”

Sam just scoffs. Jaune’s attention is then put on Castiel.

“And who do we have here? Dr. Novak, huh? The young genius who had the balls to dump my daughter a few years ago. You know, she was way out of your league, anyway.”

“Father!” Meg shouts in annoyance. Castiel simply glares at the man, ignoring Meg who looks about ready to escape this place.

And seriously? Cas used to date that girl? How did he never mention that before? Jesus, Dean hates being reminded all the time that he doesn’t know Cas all that well, after all.

“I guess she’s better off, huh? Wouldn’t want her to spend years with you only to find you in bed with some random dude eventually.”

Cas now twitches, clearly intending on going after Jaune but luckily stopped by Sam who grabs his arm.

“It’s happening more often now, is it? Man and woman marry, have kids, and after a while woman discovers her man’s been boning the hot, male neighbor all the-.”

“Is this really the thing you want to be discussing now?” Sam interrupts him.

“Not really, but how can I really start without your brother, huh?” Dean shivers upon hearing his mention. He really hopes Jaune has no idea where he is. “Oh, Dean-o, come out, come out where-ever you are.”

Dean doesn’t move, instead keeping his aim safely stuck on Jaune’s forehead.

“You’re wasting your time.” It’s Cas who speaks up, much to Dean’s surprise. “Mr. Winchester didn’t come here with us. He followed another lead, didn’t tell us much about it just in cases like these.”

Jaune glares at Cas, like he’s just personally insulted him by telling him that. It lasts for a few seconds before that disgusting smirk returns on his face.

“My, my, you almost had me, there.” Jaune looks around, his gaze resting suspiciously long on the roof where Dean is hiding out.

“Oh, but I’m not kidding. He’s not here, I assure you.”

Jaune snarls at Cas, pressing his gun closer to Sophie’s face. The girl lets out a panicked shout.

“Father, maybe he tells us the truth?” Meg tries, trying to approach Jaune with her hands up to indicate that she means no harm. In just a flash, the palm of Jaune’s hand connects with her cheek. Meg takes a surprised take back, holding her hurting face underneath her hand. She looks at her father with shock in her eyes.

“You will learn your place, child!”

There’s a strong silence around them. Jaune’s men say nothing. Meg just stands there, clearly unable to process what exactly just happened.

“You will tell me where Dean Winchester is, or this girl dies right now.”

And Dean can’t compete with that. Watching Meg take her place back aside her father, he realizes that she probably won’t just suddenly change her mind to help them out.

Right when Dean prepares to reveal himself, Sophie lets out a shout. In her hand is the knife they’ve used earlier. She takes a wild swing, burying it deep into Jaune’s chest right where the heart is. Before anybody can really process it, there’s a shot of a gun. Then Sophie falls down on the ground, a fresh bullet hole in the side of her head.

Anger rises in him, suffocating him on the spot. He doesn’t know what takes over him. Dean aims at Jaune again, shooting his remaining five rounds into his chest and face. The man goes down along with Sophie, though Dean needs to make sure that he’s really down. He needs to see it for himself.

And he needs to know if there isn’t still hope for Sophie.

Jaune’s men rile up, preparing to shoot at Sam and Cas who are unmoving. It’s like it all happens in slow motion. In just those few seconds of action, Meg seems to have taken control of the wheel. She pulls up her gun, taking out the five guards that were about to go for Sam and Cas.

Dean jumps off the roof, punching somebody in the face and snatching his shotgun from his hands. Then, just for good measure, he shoots at him to make sure he’ll stay down.

He never manages to get to Sophie. By the time he’s almost reached her, Meg grabs him by the arm and tugs him along.

“There’s no time! We need to get out of here!”

“But-“

“NOW!”

And so Dean runs, despite every part in his body telling him to take Sophie. She doesn’t deserve this, to be left behind in the jungle. Where she wouldn’t have been had it not been for them.

They run, Dean doesn’t know how long. Instead of untying the knot that keeps the horse on the tree, Dean just shoots it off. Before Whirlwind can run, Dean grabs the rope to hold him back. Despite the adrenaline running through his veins, Dean knows that entering that jungle without their gear is suicide. Especially now that their guide is…

Dean’s eyes sting. Branches are cutting into his skin. He follows Sam and Cas, looking behind him to see Meg right on his trail. She occasionally looks back to shoot down the men that manages to catch up to them. Sometimes, Dean does the same, though not as much as it startles Whirlwind and he has to control him again.

They run for what feels like hours. Every part of Dean’s body is hurting. He feels like he can’t get his breath under control. They need to stop. They need to stop immediately.

It’s Castiel who slows down, but it’s Meg who doesn’t shout at him to keep running. They’re in a small open space between the trees, close to a river from the sound of it.

A perfect place to set up camp, it seems.

“Okay, what the hell just happened?” Dean barks out. He presses his hand against his chest, unable to breathe it seems.

“Jaune just- he just-“ Sam also can’t seem to wrap his head around it.

“I’ll tell you what happened. This girl’s father here just shot an innocent girl in the head, that’s what happened!” Dean marches onto Meg, pushing her against a nearby tree. Meg drops her gun, holding her hands up in defeat. Behind him, he can hear both Sam and Cas say his name, trying to stop him.

“I know you’re mad-“ Meg starts.

“Mad? I’m _pissed off_. You could have stopped him. But you just didn’t have the guts to stand up to that monster, and now Sophie’s _dead_!”

“Dean, it’s not her fault,” Cas says, putting a hand on Dean’s shoulder. He shakes it off, shaking his head in anger.

“No, he’s right. I am to blame,” Meg admits. Dean tightens his grip against the woman. “I’ve been doing my father’s dirty work for a while now. I just never dared to stop. Don’t you know what it’s like, wanting your father’s approval after all those years?”

“I _do_ know what it’s like. I just make sure nobody dies for it.” Dean is now downright hissing, unable to contain his anger.

“Dean, please.” The hand on his shoulder is back, this time with a stronger grip. Dean turns, finding Cas looking at him in worry. “Just let her talk, okay?”

Dean hesitates. The anger running through his veins is just so strong. He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to contain it.

“Dean?”

And Dean sighs, loosening his hold on her. Meg sags against the tree, lowering her gaze. Dean, in turn, walks off. He needs a time-out, a moment to get his thoughts in order. He leaves them in the camp, heading for the river where he then sits down on the ground for a bit.

With his shoes next to him, Dean has his feet in the water. It feels refreshing, if not even a bit cold. But it’s a good distraction. A good way to cool down. And Dean tries, tries not to think back of Sophie lying on the ground. Sophie hugging him in that temple like they’d been family for their entire life. Sophie telling her stupid mythical stories about the tribes. 

He can hear the footsteps nearing.

“You calmed down?” It’s Sam. Of course he would be the one to come and get him.

“Not really,” Dean admits.

“Let’s just- let’s just hear what she has to say, huh?” Sam offers. Dean feels ready to refuse, to simply say ‘Hell no’ and be done with it. But the rational part in him reminds him that they need to keep on moving. If anything, they need to continue now even more so, just so Sophie’s death wasn’t for nothing.

Though it was for nothing. She should never have been here.

“Can I just have a few more minutes?” Dean asks. “Just until I’m sure I won’t shoot her on sight?”

Sam sighs. “Okay. But don’t stay out too long. We’ll get some food ready.”

Sam leaves again. Dean is once more alone with his thoughts. That’s good. He can set things in order, then.

Though he’s none the wiser when he finally rejoins the others at the camp. Whirlwind is peacefully eating some plants on the side. Sam and Cas are tending to each other’s wounds while Meg just sits there with her arms wrapped around her own body, as if she’s cold.

It’s Cas who notices him first. “Dean,” he simply says. That’s enough to make everybody’s head turn. Dean ignores it all, simply grabbing a bottle of water and sitting on the ground, far enough away from Meg.

“You were ready to talk? Then, talk.”

Meg’s brown eyes stare back at him, her face lacking any kind of emotion. Is it shock? Is it the actual inability to show human emotion? He’ll never know.

“I’m not Azazel Jaune’s real daughter,” she starts with. “He adopted me when I was a kid, but let me keep my mother’s surname. I thought he did that for me, but I understand now it was just a way to distance himself from me.”

Cas and Sam nod. Dean doesn’t respond.

“All my life, Azazel’s mostly been after treasures. But not just for the money. More for the unnatural properties they have.”

“Unnatural properties?”

“You are aware of John Dee and Edward Kelley? Alchemists and all that. In my opinion, they were crazy, but I guess people believed in what they did.” Meg looks down at her nails. There’s blood on her shirt, spats from when Dean’s bullets hit her adoptive father in the chest and face. He wonders if she’s disgusted or relieved?

“Dee and Kelley were working on a formula that would deliver them the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“The stone that would keep people eternally young?” Cas asks. Meg nods.

“Yes, but they didn’t know that. They thought it would just turn things to gold by a single touch. They tried to use the Angels’ ‘guidelines’ to get something made, until they eventually realized that such a stone is just not to be made in the first place.”

“They believed it already existed somewhere?” Sam deduces.

“They followed the Angel’s guidelines, started on this secret quest for the stone by approval of the Emperor. But along the way they disagreed, and eventually they separated their ways. Dee returned to England with his family, where he lived on his life in disgrace. Kelley, in turn, got his death faked so he could have all the time he needed to look for the stone.”

“How do you know about that?” Sam asks.

“My father found letters from Kelley to his wife, sent after his death. It’s what first got him on this quest, I think.” Meg rubs her eyes. “At first my father wanted to work alone. But eventually he decided that he needed help. So he called in your mother, who agreed to help him. That was before you were even born.”

That last part is directed at Dean, who just shivers at the idea of his mother working with that creep.

“She got him on a lead, but eventually she decided that Azazel’s methods were too extreme. She quit, going after other trails. They competed against each other a few times, until you were born, wearing that mark on your shoulder.”

Dean’s hand goes to his left shoulder. In the corner of his eyes, he can see Cas do the same to his right one. Does Sam even know Cas has the mark as well?

“Your mother picked up where she left off, this time working with your Dad. Azazel obviously didn’t like that. He tried to convince her to work together again, but she kept on refusing. Eventually, when she ended up pregnant with Sammy over here she decided to drop the case completely.

“Azazel was cornered. He didn’t know where to go; there was just no way for him to find out anything inside that secret tunnel in Prague. He tried blowing up the place, digging underneath it… nothing made it break. So he waited for an opportunity.”

“Dad picking up the case again,” Sam understands. Meg nods again.

“He knew your old man would be impossible to get on his side. But perhaps his sons would be helpful. He sent me to have a talk with you, convince you to join him. But you refused, told me you wouldn’t get close to it without your brother’s help. Which brought an idea into Azazel’s mind.”

“An idea?”

Dean’s eyes widen. Meg has her gazed cast downwards, shame obvious in her expression.

“Your dad ordered the hit on Jessica.” It falls on him like ice cold water. That realization that, just maybe, it wasn’t a simple hit and run.

Maybe it was an actual _hit_.

“Brady was my ‘brother’, one of Azazel’s so called ‘children’. He befriended Sam a long while back to learn more about his life. Mostly, Sam wasn’t a threat, so Brady never had to do anything.”

“Wait, wait.” Dean stands up, shaking his head while waving his hands. “They’ve kept their tabs on Sam but not me?”

“Oh, they’ve kept their tabs on you, too. When they realized that you were getting a bit too cozy and domestic with that girlfriend of yours they had to take care of that. Simple threat to your life convinced your Cassie enough to dump your ass without hesitation.”

Everything aches. The understanding that, in a way, it’s his fault that Jessica is now almost dying. The knowledge that Cassie never broke up with him because she wanted to, but more because she felt like she had to.

“Even our dear Castiel didn’t remain untouched,” Meg suddenly confesses, again. Everybody looks up. Castiel just frowns.

“You,” he then says. “You were sent to spy on me because of my knowledge.”

“Yes,” she admits. “When we met each other that day in that coffee place… it wasn’t a coincidence.”

“Was any of it real, then?” Cas’ low voice gets even lower in his anger, the grumble stronger the more his emotions get to him. “All the things you said, was any of it real?”

“Don’t play that card with me, Clarence. I could ask you the same thing.”

Meg and Cas glare at each other. Sam seems to have distanced himself to the side. Nobody seems to know what to say.

“What happened between you two?” Dean eventually asks. Cas rubs his forehead while Meg gets on her feet.

“This guy broke up with me when he suddenly came to the realization that I wasn’t the right gender.”

“You know that’s not my fault!”

“No, it’s your fault for making me fall in love with you right before stomping all over my heart!” Meg is shouting. She gets on her feet, shaking her head towards Cas with clear disdain in her eyes. “Somewhere along the way, you stopped being my mission. Azazel was against it, but I ignored his warnings. Looks like he was right about something, at least…”

Right, they need to change the subject immediately. Castiel and Meg turn away from each other, keeping their distance. Dean takes the moment of silence to get on his feet and approach Sam.

“Hey, little brother, are you okay?”

Sam looks up with red eyes, an angry flame inside of them. Dean takes a step back, swallowing past a lump in his throat.

“You know what I just realized?” Sam starts. “If you’d actually stopped saying that you wouldn’t be able to get far without me, Jess wouldn’t be in a state of near-death.”

It’s like a slap in the face. Sure, he’s had hits from his dad multiple times before, but never once has a comment hit him so hard. It punches into his stomach, pushing the breath out of his lungs.

“Sammy,” he mutters out.

“No, Dean! I’m sick of this. Sick of wasting my time, knowing that the only reason I’m here in the first place is because you never know when to fucking shut up.”

Sam jumps on his feet, pushing Dean back before storming into the jungle. Every part of Dean tells him to go after him, but he also understands that he should probably give him a moment to calm down. That’s the least he could do after they did the same to him.

Everybody seems on edge. It feels like the little group they’ve made for themselves is at the verge of falling apart. It’s not like any of them will ever trust Meg, Sam’s pissed off at Dean, and Cas… Well, this just sucks. And it couldn’t happen at a worse location.

Dean heads for the horse. Whirlwind presses his head against Dean’s chest, waiting for him to scratch his neck. With a sigh, he obeys. He passes his fingers through the horse’s manes. In the corner of his eye he can see Cas slowly standing up, distancing himself from Meg further by joining Dean.

“You okay?” Dean asks. Cas shrugs.

“I’ve had better days,” he admits. “Never really expected my ex-girlfriend to be a part of this.”

“Wait, you hadn’t seen her in Rome?” It’s pretty much a surprise, since they’ve seen her standing there, right? She was running after them as they drove off with the cab?

“Hadn’t really recognized her. I’ve always known Meg with dark hair. She scoffed at the idea of bleaching her hair to get it blonde…”

“Guess the break-up screwed her up pretty much.” Castiel shrugs, reaching for Whirlwind as well, the tips of his fingers going over his fur.

“I felt ashamed after I ended it with her, but at the same time I didn’t think she cared that much.” He releases a deep breath, shuffling a bit on his feet. “At first we didn’t exactly get along. We were quite the opposites. I was a scholar, constantly studying. She, on the other hand, quit education after getting her high school degree. Somehow, it worked…”

“Until it didn’t?”

Castiel shrugs. “Until it didn’t. As ashamed as I am to admit it, I started to have these dreams. Dreams where I was happy, married, with children. Only not with a wife.”

“A husband?”

A nod. Cas presses his lips together into a thin line. He lifts his hand and puts it back on the top of Whirlwind’s neck, his fingers accidentally touching Dean’s. Despite the sudden contact, neither of them pulls away.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be happy with her, so I admitted everything to her. She, in turn, took it very hard. The next thing I know she called me out for leading her on and disappeared. I was rather surprised to bump back into her here.”

Dean’s hand now completely covers Castiel’s, squeezing his fingers in reassurance. “I’m pretty sure she’ll understand eventually it’s not your fault.”

Cas smiles at him, automatically making Dean do the same. There’s nothing left to say after that. Both of them remain standing there, hands still together, eyes not letting go of each other. Dean feels his heart jump for a bit.

 

“Uh, guys, I think I hear something?”

The two pull away from Whirlwind, Dean instantly taking out his gun and readying himself to aim. Cas runs towards where Meg dropped her weapon, picking it up and aiming it to where the source of the noise is.

“Meg, get behind me,” Cas instructs the girl. She rolls her eyes but listens, no longer insisting on pouting along with them. Dean inspects the trees, wondering if it’s possibly Sam who’s coming back? Though he went the other way, so it would surprise Dean, really. Still, Sam would be a whole lot better than any of Jaune’s remaining men.

There’s a short moment of rustling, Dean and Cas standing together with their guns raised. The rustling gets closer, though where it comes from he can’t say. His heart races, sweat trickling down his face. A glance at Cas indicates that he isn’t much better off.

“Switching sides now are we, Megan?”

And all three gasp, Meg’s sounding downright terrified. Because the voice is familiar, though at the same time it shouldn’t be possible.

Emerging from the plants is Azazel Jones, blood stains on his clothes, yet no sign of any wounds along with them. It’s like everything just completely healed.

“This isn’t possible,” Cas gasps.

“We need to run, now,” Meg whispers behind them. Then she pulls them by the wrist, getting them into a run deeper to the forest.

“No, Sam’s still out there!” Dean complains, though not slowing his steps. He knows when it’s a life-or-death situation, and this definitely qualifies as one.

“Your brother will return to an empty camp with the horse. I’m sure he’ll find his way out,” Meg assures him.

They run, they jump and they duck. It’s a long process, but with every glance behind them it doesn’t seem likely that they’ll lose Jaune that easily. He’s always right behind them, grin wide on his face and Sophie’s knife safely in his hands.

They go on and on, until they find themselves in front of a cliff, nowhere else for them to run.

“Shit, shit shit shit,” Meg grits out, putting herself between them and Azazel, despite her being the only one without weapons.

“Meg, what are you doing?” Castiel asks in a panic.

“Climb down. Climb the fuck down, I’ll buy you some time!”

“Meg!”

“Just do it!”

Dean wonders if she knows what she’s asking of them. There’s no way for them to reach the bottom with this height. A fall from here would definitely mean their deaths.

But at the same time it doesn’t seem like there’s anything else they can do. Before Azazel emerges from the trees, the two men already got themselves over the edge, grabbing on to whatever they can to hold them up. Then, carefully, they lower themselves, barely aware of the talking above them.

“I must say, for a moment I thought you’d learn your lesson, my daughter.”

“I’ve learned plenty. Enough to know when it’s time to stop messing with people’s lives.”

“Bullshit,” Azazel counters. Castiel coughs when a couple of tiny loose rocks fall onto his head. Above him Dean whispers a quick ‘sorry’. “The only thing you’ve learned is that you’ve found your _unicorn_ , and despite that unicorn never being able to love you, you’ll still do anything for it.”

“At least I found my unicorn. But you are incapable of doing so, aren’t you?”

“Enough bullshit. Get out of my way, or I’ll make you.”

There’s silence. Dean grunts again when one of the edges in the cliff once again crumble down. He looks to Castiel to see if he’s alright.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“You won’t stop it from happening again. It’s already started; I’ve seen it with my own eyes. When they’ll reach the city, it’ll be done, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Silence!”

“Never!”

Then there’s the sound of Meg grunting in pain. A few seconds later, something falling. Dean looks up to find Meg’s hand over the cliff, unmoving. Did… did Azazel just kill his own daughter to get to them?

And Azazel Jaune finally appears, smirking when he sees the two men still on their climb down.

“You know, you’ve just made everything much easier for me.” And he picks up the bloody knife before throwing it down. Dean sees it fall right towards him. There’s nowhere he can go that’s quickly enough, so he does the only thing that seems like the better solution.

He pushes himself off the cliff.

And with that, he starts falling, with only the endless trees too far underneath him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:  
> \- character death(s) (not Sam, Dean or Cas)  
> \- mentions of past Castiel/Meg  
> \- Azazel is insane


	15. The thing about Novak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess I should update once in a while  
> This was quite an intense chapter to write. I liked making it. Hope you'll like it, too.   
> Chapter warnings in end notes

When Dean was a kid, around the time that his mother was still alive, she would always have her techniques to comfort him whenever he was sad. It was with the usual hug, pulling him onto her lap and passing her hand through his hair while she promised him pie for dessert after dinner.

She did this whenever Dad got angry at him, whenever he was sick, or if he hurt himself while playing. There would have been tears, and the occasional outburst of anger because, in the end, Dean still has quite of a temper, but in the end he would always feel good.

Right now, he has his eyes closed, though he can feel the hands passing through his hair. For a moment, he’s brought back into a memory from the past. One where his mother took care of him. When he opens his eyes, he almost expects to find her behind him.

But he doesn’t. Instead he finds familiar blue eyes, looking at him sadly.

“Hello, my love.”

Dean sighs. He doesn’t want to get up. Instead, he closes his eyes again.

“Cassia,” he greets the woman. She moves her hand from her hair to his cheek. “This another dream?”

“That depends.” She chuckles as her fingers pass over his forehead. “Do you often dream about women you’ve never met?”

Dean laughs along. “I don’t think you want to know the answer to that,” he admits to her.

“You got me there.” Both breathe out quietly, Cassia’s hand returning to her hair.

“You know what I hate most about humans? How fragile they are. It’s like one little hit is enough to take them down. It frightens me, if I’m honest.”

“Yeah, we sure aren’t perfect,” Dean admits. Looking up at Cassia, he, too, finds himself lifting his hand to put it on her cheek. Cassia halts her movement, putting hers on top of Dean’s and tangling their fingers together. “Though I kinda got the feeling that you are?”

She lowers her gaze, a sad expression passing over her. “I am far from perfect,” she assures him. It’s in the silence that follows that Dean realizes they’re outside. The sun is shining, birds are chirping in the trees. There’s no wind at all, and the temperature is rather pleasant.

“How come you’ve been appearing in my dreams all the time?”

Cassia lets out a soft sigh.

“He’s watching over you, you know?”

Master of evasion. Dean sees what she’s doing.

“Who is?”

“That doctor?” Cassia smiles. “He’s scared you’re not going to wake up, but there’s nowhere he can take you.”

“Wait, Cas?”

“Yes?”

“No, no, not you. I mean Castiel. The doctor.”

Cassia smirks, and Dean realizes she was teasing him.

“What’s happening there? How do I wake up?”

“It’s raining. You were lucky that it stayed dry for the past few days. The monsoon-season is rather tricky.” Cassia sighs. Dean shivers when her fingers pass over his cheek again. And, is it him or… does he feel wet? Is he shaking?

“ _Dean?_ ”

 “Cas, is he- is he alright? Why is he scared I’m not waking up? Where’s Sammy?”

Cassia leans forward, pressing her lips softly against Dean’s.

“Your brother is fine. But you need to wake up, now.”

“ _Please, Dean. I can’t carry you anymore. I don’t know where to go. I need you to wake up.”_

“But I don’t know how. How do I wake up?” Dean asks, feeling Cassia against his mouth. Something’s pressing against his chest. It kind of hurts, too.

“Don’t fight it.” They’re just whispers, spoken right against his lips.

“D _amn it, Dean!”_

Cassia kisses him again. Instantly, Dean feels air filling his lungs. It’s as if he hasn’t breathed for a few minutes. He suddenly gasps for air, reaching for Cassia to push her off, only finding that it’s not her kissing him. It’s Cas forcing air into his lungs.

“Dean!”

He starts coughing, rolling over and leaning on his arm while he takes in the air. Behind him, Cas is sitting up, having fallen over after Dean pushed him away. It’s cold, which is why he’s shivering. There’s a strong pressure on his chest, and Dean’s pretty sure that has nothing to do with the temperature.

“Wha- Where are we?” He’s hoarse, feeling heavy. Cas is on him in an instant, helping him into an upright position.

“We’re still in the forest. We fell from the cliff. You wouldn’t wake up so I carried you for a few hours, but then the rain started.” Cas sounds out of breath, nervous. This whole scene is the complete opposite of the one in the dream. “I noticed that you were having a fever so I tried to get us out of here, but then you stopped breathing and your heart stopped and I-“

Oh, he’s rambling. Dean reaches up to put his hand on Castiel’s mouth, just to shut him up for a minute. Even doing that hurts in all his muscles.

“It’s okay, Cas. I’m awake now, okay?”

Cas looks like he’s on the verge of bursting into tears, though with the rain it’s difficult to know if he hasn’t already.

“We need to get somewhere dry. You seen anything while you were carrying me around?”

Cas shakes his head. He looks so… vulnerable right now. It’s kind of incredible that he actually managed to get him this far. He must be exhausted.

Well, Dean’s pretty exhausted, too. He could use a good sleep. A good mattress as well. If he’s sick enough to nearly die, he should probably get lots of medication. They need to find Sam quickly and get out of here.

“Okay, help me up. We’re gonna have a look around.”

“Dean, I don’t think you should walk yet.”

A raised eyebrow is all he gives in return. Cas presses his lips together to silence himself. Then he gets on his feet, holding out his hand for Dean to hold.

The jungle had been beautiful when it was still dry. Now, there’s this never-ending rain that makes it nearly impossible for them to see. Dean has no idea how long they’re walking. He feels exhausted, at the end of his limit. Cas is trying his best to keep him up, but more often than not Dean stumbles and even drags him along on the ground.

He doesn’t know who spots the cave first. Probably Cas, since Dean’s vision has eventually turned blurry from the exhaustion. Where he had been shivering after he woke up, he’s now sweating alongside the rain pouring down on him. He’s at the verge of collapse when suddenly the rain stops and both men stumble on the ground.

“It’s- okay, we’re okay,” Cas tells him. His hand reaches out for Dean’s shoulder, gently shaking him. “I’ll make us a fire.”

“With what?” Dean wheezes out. He turns onto his side, though startling when Cas pulls him back.

“I don’t know yet, but you need to get out of these wet clothes,” he says.

“And then what? It’s not like we have anything dry to change them with.”

Cas ignores him, pulling at his jacket despite the stickiness. Dean keeps on complaining, though quickly realizing that Cas isn’t going to stop. He quickly grabs his arms, pushing them away from him. With all the strength he has remaining, he keeps Cas from his clothes.

“Seriously, Cas, calm down. I’m not dying this instant.” He stares him right in the eyes, reading nothing but panic from him. “Just take a moment to think, okay? Calm down, breathe in and out.”

Cas does as instructed, nodding at him though never removing his eyes from Dean.

“Okay, good.” Dean smiles, despite the exhaustion. “Now, if you want to make a fire in a cave, you need to follow my words, alright?”

Cas nods again. “Alright,” he agrees. He helps Dean move against the wall, dropping his coat – still the one they stole from Jaune’s men – before running back outside per Dean’s instructions. It takes a while for him to return with some pine wood, given the fact that it’s not the most present sort of tree in the Amazon jungle.

“Good, this is good,” Dean says. He feels like his exhaustion is getting the better of him. They need to start this thing before he falls asleep, because he’s pretty sure Cas doesn’t know anything about survival in the jungle.

He’s rather surprised but glad to find out Cas collected the knife Jaune threw at them when they fell. If there had been blood on it, it’s by now washed away by the rain. Cas uses the knife to get to the center of the wood, scraping off the wet layers before putting everything near the entrance of the cave.

“Isn’t it risky putting it here? If the wind suddenly shifts it could die out, no?”

Dean shakes his head. “It’s better to do it at the entrance of the cave, because at least then the smoke can escape. Otherwise we’ll suffocate in here,” he explains, though he’s not sure if Cas can even hear him. His eyes fall shut more often than not, but he keeps on reminding himself to stay awake.  

“So now what, you’ve got some fire-starting equipment with you?” Cas asks once he’s completely followed Dean’s instructions. Dean chuckles, reaching for the inside of his jacket.

“I’ll do you one better,” he says. He holds out his lighter. Sure, he’s got some fire-starting stuff on him. He’s been in situations like these enough to know it’s never a stupid idea to bring stuff like that along. Of course, the nearly-dying never really fit into that equation in the past.

“Okay, good.” Cas sounds happy, but by now Dean has trouble focusing on his face. He puts the shavings of pine wood he chopped together and starts up the flame. After a few clicks, it seems to be working. Slowly but surely, the flame grows, and Cas puts on the wet sticks before taking a few steps back. Then, in silence, he heads in Dean’s direction.

It’s not exactly like Dean can see him with his eyes closed, but he can hear the nearing footsteps.

“Dean?” he asks.

“Still awake, buddy,” he returns, opting for a smile but not sure he’s succeeding at it. “Just make sure that fire lives, okay?”

“Okay.” Cas moves away again. By the time Dean feels like some of the heat approaches him, he tries opening his eyes again, seeing a reasonable flame has been created. He smiles, unable to feel anything other than proud.

“Good job,” he tells him.

“Thank you. Now let’s get you out of those wet clothes.”

And Dean allows him to take off the green guard-coat, followed by his jacket he refused to take off earlier – which is lucky, otherwise they wouldn’t have had that lighter. By the time Dean’s seated there in only his underwear, Cas helps him get up and guides him closer to the fire.

“Just wait here for a moment, alright?”

“Sure thing, boss.” Dean shivers through his teeth, wrapping his arms together. He’s got no idea how Cas manages to get their clothes to dry, but he’s too tired to find out. By the time Dean feels his presence reappear, Cas presses something in his hand.

“I made this with the remaining drinking water we have,” he says. “I got some herbs together. These should help with the fever.”

The cup he’s given feels hot, but not burning. Dean smiles again, feeling his entire body ache.

“How did I survive that fall?” he asks in a whisper. “There was nothing underneath me but trees… I shouldn’t be alive?”

“You lost consciousness during your fall. I managed to grab your rope, which you had still tied around you. But the weight made me lose my grip, so I fell along. We got tangled in some vines a long way above the ground, which slowed us down. Something cut you in your stomach, which must have started the fever along with the weather.”

Dean puts his hand on his belly, feeling some bandages on it. He chuckles.

“You really are watching over me, aren’t you?” His voice is so soft, it’s barely audible. Then Dean’s head sags to the side, on Castiel’s shoulder. He’s not really aware of what he’s doing, only barely understanding that they’re both half-naked in a cave, close to passing out.

“I wouldn’t know about that,” Cas says hesitantly. Dean pulls away again while shaking his head. Then he leans back to the side, missing Castiel’s shoulder and instead getting his head on his lap.

“I’ll see you in a few hours,” he thinks he says, though he’s not too sure the sound actually comes out of his mouth. After that, he finally lets sleep catch up to him, the darkness swallowing him whole with the feel of Cas’ fingers in his hair.

 

Dean feels no better when he wakes up. Even possible, he feels probably worse than before. Sure, his exhaustion has come a long way now that he’s actually slept a little, but his entire body still aches, and now he actually feels the cut Cas mentioned on his belly.

He’s been holding the radio in his hand for a while, but each attempt at contacting Sam has ended up with the same result: nothing. It’s rather hopeless, too. He’s probably still way above, while they fell off a goddamn cliff. Unless they’ve got a method of communicating, there’s no way for them to find each other again.

Around noon, after having eaten the last of their food, Dean announces that it’s time for them to continue. The rain has stopped for a bit, and their clothes are dry enough to go on. They make sure the fire is out completely before they leave their cave behind. The jackets they snagged from the guards, they roll up and attach to their belts.

“You okay, man?” Dean asks after they’ve been walking in silence for an hour. They move slow due to Dean being sick, but despite that they seem to be making good progress.

“Just saw my ex-girlfriend being murdered by some crazy maniac yesterday, so no, I’m not exactly okay,” Cas admits. Dean clears his throat, realizing this might be a sore subject for him.

“Hey, I’m sorry for your loss.” Dean puts his hand on Cas’ shoulder. “We’ll get the son of a bitch, I can promise you that.”

“How?” Cas stomps away a branch, swatting away a few bugs that fly over him. “You’ve emptied your rifle in him and Sophie stabbed him with this knife, yet he’s still walking around.”

There’s not really an explanation for that. It shouldn’t be possible. Sam shot Jaune once, and after the attempt at the city… There should be a better reason than just a ‘bulletproof vest’, which he would have called ‘bullshit’ already.

“I dunno, man. He’s probably just messing with our brains.” He doesn’t know who he’s trying to convince more.  

Dean realizes that he’s feeling weaker by the hour. They’ll have to set up camp soon, take some rest. With Cas having used the rain to fill their bottles, it’s not like they ran out of water during the day, but now that they’re getting to their last drops again, Dean understands that they’ll need to use the survival tricks to last a little longer.

“Dean, did you hear that?” Cas asks. And to be fair, Dean didn’t.

“No, what’s wrong?” He takes a step forward, and that’s when his leg gives out, his muscles too tired to keep going. He falls forward, only stopped by Cas who grabs him by the arm.

“I got you,” he tells him, kneeling next to him to keep him up. Dean chuckles bitterly, leaning forward until his forehead is pressed against Castiel’s shoulder. He closes his eyes, taking deep breaths.

“’m Sorry we dragged you into this mess,” Dean apologizes. Cas shakes his head. His hand moves to the back of Dean’s neck.

“In case you forgot, I dragged myself into this mess.”

They stay like this for a bit, and that’s when Dean hears it, too. The rustling of people getting closer. And he’s too tired to defend himself. Cas seems like it, too. From the sound of it, they’re completely surrounded.

Suddenly, Cas speaks. But it’s not in a language that Dean understands. It sounds a bit like how Sophie talked to the tribe. He would open his eyes to check out what’s going on, but he’s too tired. He’s literally sagging against Castiel, leaning so much against him as it’s the only thing keeping him up.

And with sadness going all over him, he thinks back of his brother. He wishes Sam was here. If he has to die in this bloody jungle, it would have been better with the company of his brother. This stupid hunt… Bobby even warned them about the dangers, but they never listened. They should have…

Dean only realizes he passed out when he suddenly opens his eyes, finding himself lying on a cot with a few dry blankets on him. There’s the smell of herbs burning, the sound of rain falling on the roof. He frowns, seeing immediately that he’s in some sort of hut.

“You’re awake,” Cas says. Dean turns to find him seated on the ground with a paper on his lap. “I was worried you wouldn’t…”

He rubs his eyes, trying to sit up but feeling his muscles complain, still. At least now he’s not shivering from the cold or sweating up from the heat. He feels… kind of okay.

“What happened?” Dean asks. Cas smiles bitterly, his eyes not meeting Dean’s.

“The Echonorians. A couple of them were on the lookout, in search for more food. They found us and brought us back to the tribe.”

“They were a long way from home.”

“Yes. One of them took you on their horse and ran back here. I walked with the others. By the time we arrived they had already taken care of you.” The bitterness in Cas’ expression now changes into sadness. “You still need to rest, but you’re doing much better, they say.”

“They say? I thought you didn’t understand their language?”

And now it’s shame. Today, Cas feels like an open book to read. Everything is suddenly so obvious on him.

“I lied about that,” he admits. He reaches for the side where he picks up a cup, which he hands to Dean. “I lie about it to everybody because it’s not normal.”

“What isn’t?” Dean takes the cup and whatever is inside feels like heaven for his throat. It’s only then that he realizes it was hurting.

“I’ve known my entire life that I was different… It’s not hard when you have a twin brother who’s supposed to be as good at everything as you are. But… we weren’t the same.” Cas sighs. “I can read and understand every language in the world, including the dead ones.”

That comes as a surprise, though at the same time it doesn’t shock Dean as much as it should. It’s true that Cas knows a lot of languages, but after what he’s seen yesterday with Jaune… So maybe there are a few cases in the world that they can’t explain. So be it.

“Okay,” Dean says eventually.

“Okay?” Cas sounds confused.

“I mean, it kind of just saved my life, so yeah. Okay.” Dean smiles at him, an attempt to assure him that it’s okay, there’s nothing wrong. “I mean, I knew you were a weird little guy from the start. At least now I know you’re a cool kind of weird.”

“What would be the strange kind of weird, then?” Cas laughs along, though it’s faint.

“I dunno. You could have had tentacles for fingers, or sharp teeth. Having a super brain? That shit’s pretty cool.” Dean puts down the cup and closes his eyes with a smile. “So you _do_ know everything there is to know about Enochian?”

Castiel hums in agreement. “It shouldn’t be possible due to the limited research there is on it, but yes. Apparently I wrote in Enochian when I was a toddler. It kind of scared my parents at first.”

“Heh, they probably thought you were some kind of demon child or something.” Dean sighs tiredly. “Say, did you get any sleep at all since we fell?”

“I slept a bit in the cave. But I was mostly looking out for you. I was afraid to find you not breathing anymore.”

Dean turns back to look at him. He’s about to say something when Castiel beats him to it.

“Eventually you started shaking so badly that I decided to share my body-heat with you. So I put you right next to the fire and-“

“Okay, yeah, I don’t need to know the details of how we cuddled in that cave.” Dean rolls his eyes, feeling his cheeks redden. Sure, nothing was meant by it, but if Sam would ever find out about that he’ll never hear the end of it.

“I doubt that could be classified as ‘cuddling’?” And Cas sounds so confused, it actually makes Dean laugh despite the sting it gives in his belly. His hand goes for the wound, feeling a fresh pair of bandages on them.

“What’s that paper on your lap, huh?” he eventually asks, once again noticing the page there.

“Oh, the Echonorians found this in your pocket? I don’t know where you found this, but it’s a letter from Percy Fawcett to his wife. It seems like it never got sent.”

Dean sits up, ignoring the ache in his muscles.

“What? I thought it was just some piece of paper we dropped at the temple! What does it say?” He reaches out for it, and Cas hands him the page. Quickly Dean reads it over, finding that it’s indeed a letter from the guy.

It says that they found the city, that it was incredible. But that he realized that this was only the beginning, and that the actual civilization lived somewhere far away, somewhere inaccessible. And how they’re heading out for Tristan to check out the island.

“Well, it looks like they had the same idea as us,” Dean eventually states.

“Yes, it does seem that way,” Cas agrees. “I hope my brother did, too.”

Dean looks at Cas, taking in his exhausted figure. It seems like Cas is at the verge of collapsing, which really can’t do for him. He quietly reaches out for him until his hand is on Cas’ arm.

“You get some sleep, okay? I’ll still be here when you wake up, don’t worry.” Their eyes meet, and Dean can see the whirlwind of emotions inside of his gaze. Cas is hesitating, that much is clear. But he doesn’t look like he can go on for much further.

But there’s no chance for him to answer. There’s commotion outside, people speaking and passing their hut. Dean frowns, his first instinct to get out of the bed and check it out. He’s stopped by Cas, who pushes him back down.

“I’ll go see what’s going on. Stay here.”

And then Cas is out. But Dean’s not just gonna lie here. He needs to do something. If Jaune’s men infiltrated the tribe he needs to help them out. So with a grunt he gets on his feet. He puts on his shoes, grabs his dry black shirt from the ground and puts it on. He’s aware that it’s still raining, but he ignores that. Instead he gets out of the hut, following to where the people are gathering together.

There’s so many emotions going through him when he sees the figure standing there, with his hands raised and panic in his eyes. Whirlwind is behind him, with a person sitting on him, though that person looks like she’s at the verge of passing out.

“Meg,” he hears Cas whisper out next to him. Immediately he runs towards her. Right on time, too, as she literally falls down at that moment. He catches her, saying something in the Echonorian’s language. Some people follow him to a hut, while Sam looks on with worry.

Once the initial shock has passed, Dean moves forward. Taking big steps, he heads Sam’s direction, pulling him into his arms before Sam can even really see him.

“Dean?” the younger Winchester asks in confusion.

“Damn, it’s good to see you, Sammy,” Dean returns. His eyes are stinging, his entire body aching. But his brother is back, and that alone makes Dean the happiest person in the world. Everything else, they can worry about later.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:  
> \- hurt Dean   
> \- Hypothermia, probably. Fever. It's not looking good  
> \- somebody's heart stopped for a short period of time


	16. Across the Ocean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally we're getting somewhere!  
> Also, huh, a second update today? Nah, you're wrong. I'm posting the whole thing. Expect more updates

When Sam had returned to the camp and had noticed everybody was gone, he followed the footsteps made until he arrived to the cliff where he found Meg, who turned out to still be alive though only barely. After carrying her back to the horse, Sam realized that he needed to get her some medical help as quickly. He did first aid on the stab wound in her abdomen, but there wasn’t more that he could do after that.

He wandered around, hid away from the rain in the tent, and eventually made his way back to the Echonorians. That’s how he ended up back here, seated in a hut with dinner served in front of him and Dean on his left. Cas is with Meg, helping out with her care.

Their stay with the Echonorians lasts for nearly two days, in which time Dean has recovered enough to return on the road. By that time, Cas has finally emerged again from Meg’s tent with the news that she’ll make it. It’s a relief, but at the same time Dean realizes that they’ll have to leave her here until she’s healed enough.

The three agree that she’ll be in the best care here. Meg, too, goes with the idea.

“Go chase your unicorn,” she says when the three consult it with her. And the day after that, with guidance from some of the Echonorians, they begin on their two-day march back to modern civilization.

Their car is still where they left it. Their hotel-room unchanged except for the cleaning that happened. The first thing Dean does is take a shower, while Sam does the same in the other room. They eventually return to Sophie’s house, hoping they could speak with her mother. Just so they can bring her the bad news. But, as it turns out, nobody’s home. They just leave their number, and head back to pack their stuff.

It’s another twenty-four hour ride back to Sao Paolo, their flight in Sao Paolo leaving at 5:55 pm. They travel for another ten and half hours until their stop in Tambo. After that, there’s another two-hour flight to Cape Town.

They sleep it all off again, get their biorhythm back in order before they head out into the city in search for any boats sailing off to the island. It takes quite some work for them to even get permission to get to the island, after sending a request of approval to the Island Council and obtaining a couple of documents needed to gain entrance, including the fact that there’s only a boat every two months or so. They’re in luck, as a ship leaves around the 30th of November, meaning that they only have to wait one more day in the city once they got all their documents and permissions in order.

When Dean asks Cas how he managed to get reaction from the council so quickly, Cas simply says something in the line of ‘the symbol makes everything work in our favor’, which doesn’t really give him an answer, though Dean can only guess what exactly it was he sent in that mail.

The day they leave for Tristan, they get on a fishing boat which can carry 12 passengers along with its crew of 35 people. They get assigned some sleeping quarters, which they get to share with a couple of other tourists. The beds are small, much as how they would be expected on a ship. Dean’s not intending on spending a lot of time in there other than for sleep.

The first day of the journey, Dean sits down at the front of the boat. It’s good to feel the wind in his hair. He’s got his mother’s journal on his lap, a pen in his hand. There’s a hot cup of coffee next to him. It’s good to take these few moments of respite to note down everything that has happened on the trip. There’s a lot to write down, but luckily Dean’s got a good memory. He talks about the Temple of Cassia, about meeting Athan and finding the remains of Herculaneum. About Rome and the church. The visit to James Gurney, Brazil. With an ache in his chest, he writes about that monster Azazel Jaune, and how he killed an innocent young girl without any regret.

It feels like he’s writing for an eternity. When somebody suddenly touches his shoulder, Dean startles.

“Hello, Dean.”

Warmth fills all the way inside Dean, and he smiles up at Cas, who’s wearing a hat, a scarf and gloves. When he hands some warm clothing to Dean, he takes it gratefully.

“Thanks, pal,” he says. “How’s Sam?”

Cas sits down next to him, eyes looking over the ocean around them. “He’s fine. Talking to the people we share a room with. They’re in the dinner hall.”

Typically Sam to befriend everybody around here. Dean isn’t quite the same on that front. It always takes him a while to trust people even a little.

“Are you okay, Cas?” Dean wonders when he sees something in Cas’ gaze. Something he can’t explain. “You’ve been quiet. Did- did something happen between you and Meg?” He smirks, though at the same time feels nauseous just saying it. Cas, luckily, just laughs.

“No, that’s not something that will happen anymore,” he admits. “I, uh… I fell asleep for a bit and I had another dream, is all.”

Dean nods. “That Demetrius again, huh?” he asks. Cas shrugs.

“I don’t really know.”  In a short moment of silence, Dean’s eyes cast downwards, to where Cas’ hands are resting on his legs. He’s nervously tapping his fingers. His back is straight, but there’s this tension in his shoulders. It’s probably time to change the subject.

“You know, when we were kids my Dad used to bring Sam and me along to his hunts. Of course, only when he was sure that there was no competition aiming to have his head.” Dean laughs, feeling proud when Cas, too, lets out a chuckle. “Sometimes, Dad would bring us to old cities. Nothing that brought a bigger meaning to history. Just something we came across along the path. He would tell us to stay put, don’t wander off too far, but more often than not I would use that time to teach Sammy how to climb.”

He rubs his wrist, clearing his throat for a bit. Then he turns his head back towards the sea in front of them.

“We would start off simple, just broken walls, trees and ropes. But eventually we were both getting on the rooftops of the buildings, pretending we were superheroes on a mission to save the day, until one time Sam fell and broke his arm. Man, Dad was pissed off!”

“Sounds like you two had an awful lot of fun back then?” Cas inquires.

“You said it.” Dean shifts a bit on his place. When he feels the first drop of rain fall on his face he gets on his feet. “C’mon, let’s get inside.”

Cas nods. He picks up his cup of coffee and follows Dean back inside. They greet the few crew-members that remain outside to have a smoke. It should be getting close to dinner time, Dean thinks.

“How ‘bout you and your brother?” Dean asks as they get into the mess hall. It’s still quite empty so they have more than enough space to choose from. Dean takes a seat at the far corner of the room. “What crazy things did you two do together when you were little?”

“Oh, well, Jimmy liked to do sports while I was always studying. Of course, I never had to study anything for long. I could read incredibly fast, and with my photographic memory it wasn’t that hard to remember things.” Cas shrugs as if it’s not that big of a deal.

“No way? That’s insane,” Dean exclaims.

“Well, anyway. I usually spent my days inside. I isolated myself from others because I was afraid that they would think I’m weird. Jimmy, of course, didn’t like it. Sometimes he would drag me along to the farm next door, where we would help out with feeding the animals. The farmer never really complained about that.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

Cas takes off his gloves, and after that his scarf. “Well, sometimes Jimmy and I would hang out at the barn after we told the farmer we were finished. We would just sit there and talk, mostly about our future. He always wanted to be a pirate, and I wanted to be a doctor. But, more like a medical doctor.”

“Why didn’t you do that, then?” Dean can imagine Cas as a doctor. Awkward but precise. Somebody he would trust his life to. And man, if that doesn’t suddenly surprise him?

“I’m not sure. I suddenly intended on studying the Enochian language, and to find out everything there was to know about it. And then before I knew it I had a doctorate in the pocket.”

Dean takes in the smile on Cas’ face. Thinking back of the first time he met Cas, he nearly gets a whiplash from how different he feels around him now. It’s safe to say that, at first, he hated the guy. There’s no explaining why, just that he did. Somehow along the way, without Dean realizing it, they’ve gone from that to this; some sort of friendship.

Dean trusts him. It’s hard not to; when he was at the verge of dying after that fall and the fever, Cas did everything in his power to keep him alive.

“Anyway, one day while we were hiding in the shed, we heard some funny noises. It sounded like two people having fun, so Jimmy and I decided to try and have a look. There we found the farmer having sex with his wife.”

Dean laughs, slapping his leg once while Cas, too, chuckles on the spot.

“Man, you two must have been traumatized?” he asks.

“Yeah, we both agreed that we would never do anything like that. Imagine the betrayal I felt when my body reached teenagerhood.”

Yeah, Dean can just so easily imagine it. That period in life with all those uncontrollable urges? One would really feel betrayed by themselves.

The laughter dies down for a bit. There’s some noise in the kitchen in the back. Crew members emerging with hot pots and preparing them for service. Another person puts bottles of water on every table, along with some glasses. When they pass their table, Dean gives the man a grateful nod.

“Hey, man… I’m not sure if I ever thanked you for saving me back in the jungle.” Dean scratches his head, a bit embarrassed to look Cas in the eyes. It’s the two of them again, the man handing out glasses already in the other side of the room.

“You don’t have to thank me. You would have done the same for me,” Cas assures him. Dean thinks for a few seconds before realizing that, yes, he would have. He would have carried Cas all across the jungle if it meant keeping him alive.

“Still… you were stranded, alone in a large jungle. For somebody who hasn’t been out on the field before, that’s quite a responsibility upon their shoulder. Even more so when they have somebody to care for.”

“I know. But if we’re entirely honest I just carried you on my back most of the time until I just couldn’t. And when you suddenly stopped breathing… I don’t know, I just went crazy, I think.”

Their gaze lingers. It doesn’t seem like either of them is intending of letting it go.

“Well, I’m still breathing. And that’s because of you.”

That’s when Cas breaks the connection. He lowers his gaze, blinking down to the table and averting his eyes, clearly on purpose. Dean figures he’s just shy, so he’s not going to press it. Especially when the other nine tourists and Sam start entering the room.

Sam takes place next to Cas, followed by the couple they share a room with. It’s a man and a woman who have been married for three years now and are off visiting the woman’s brother on the island. Or something like that, Dean doesn’t really listen as they start explaining it.

Dean’s brother doesn’t have any troubles with talking to them. He keeps on going, asking more and more and answering their questions with honest answers. For a few minutes, Dean just observes him. Sam’s good at putting up a mask. Inside, Dean knows the man is suffering from the worry he has for his girlfriend. On the outside, none of that seems to show.

Dean can protect him all he wants, but when it comes to the matters like these he’s pretty much out of his debt. After all, they’ve never really talked about the whole thing from the jungle. It was rather obvious that Sam avoided that part. Dean, typically, went along with that.

They get their dinner, and after that the couple takes out a pack of cards and asks who wants to play. Sam agrees, along with a couple of other tourists.

“C’mon, Dean, it’ll be fun, alright?” he insists when Dean gets out that he’s not too sure if he’ll join. With an eyeroll, Dean finds himself agreeing anyway, just because he can never freaking deny his brother anything.

Cas doesn’t join them. He says that he’ll head outside, and have another look at Kelley’s journal to see if he maybe missed something. Dean doubts that, given the fact that he’s studied it ten thousands of times already maybe. They’ve had enough time to kill in the airplanes.

The man they’re siting with, Sid, wins the first round with ease. His wife Sarah is not as good in the game as he is, and even opts out of the second game, which in turn is Sam’s to win. Dean, doesn’t even come close, finding that he’s rather distracted the entire time. When they’re all played out it takes one look outside to realize that it’s already dark. They should probably be heading for bed. Normally, Dean wouldn’t go in so early, but aside from the fact that his sleeping pattern is completely fucked up, there’s also just very little for them to do here. Sam might like talking to strangers – heck, he wouldn’t have aspired to become a lawyer if he didn’t – but Dean’s always been rather secluded on that part.

Still, Dean goes outside, the raining once again stopped. He takes a turn to the left, leaning up against the railing there.

“Be careful not to fall in,” somebody says behind him. Dean turns to find a man in uniform walking up to him. He’s wearing a hat that indicates that he could probably be the captain of the ship. The man looks friendly enough; buff (the uniform looks rather tight for his enormous muscles), with the beginnings of a beard. His eyes have a light blue shade. When he smiles, it reveals straight, white teeth.

“I assure you, I have no intentions of doing that,” Dean chuckles out. The Captain snorts as well before leaning on the railing next to him.

“She’s quite the beauty, ain’t she?” he asks.

“The sea?”

“Yeah, the sea. Who else would I be talkin’ bout?” The man keeps smiling. Dean shrugs, pointing at his left hand.

“I dunno, could have been ‘bout a wife?” he tries, indicating the wedding band currently worn by the man’s ring finger.

“Oh, yeah.” The Captain laughs again. “Yeah, she’s a beauty, too. I often call her my sea-goddess. She often tells me to shut up whenever I say that, though.”

The Captain pulls out a wallet, opening it to reveal a picture of a woman with long, dark hair. She looks beautiful, indeed.

“That’s my Andrea. She was born on Tristan, but moved away to get to college. Eventually she found her way back, draggin’ me along.” Then the Captain turns, holding out his hand for Dean to shake. “Name’s Benny. Benny Lafitte.”

Dean accepts the handshake. “Dean Winchester,” he says.

“Winchester? No way, you’re not in any chance related to a certain John Winchester, aren’t’cha?”

Dean’s eyes widen, the cold breeze around him suddenly forgotten.

“You know my Dad?” he asks in surprise. Benny chuckles.

“Yeah, the guy came and asked lots of questions when he made the travel. He was accompanied by a man who looks an awful lot like that buddy of yours, there.” Benny points to somewhere behind Dean. When he turns around, he finds Cas seated there with the journal and a notebook in his lap. Somehow, he’s finding even more stuff to write down.

“That’s probably his twin brother Jimmy. We’re looking for them. They kind of disappeared on us, never telling us where they went.”

“Ah, well, you’re certainly on the right track there,” Benny says while turning back towards the sea. “Thought the two were a strange combination. You out searchin’ for something?”

“You could say that,” Dean says vaguely. He realizes he’s still looking at Cas when the other man lifts his gaze, their eyes meeting. Cas waves at him faintly in a greeting, but Dean just gestures for him to come up. Cas closes the journal and notebook, putting them back into his bag before he heads in their direction.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas greets him like he always does. Benny seems to startle at the sudden addition to their company.

“Oh, man, the voice is different,” he says. When Cas frowns in confusion, Dean decides to explain it.

“This guy met my dad. And your brother. We were right, they’re working together.”

Cas eyes seem to light up at that.

“You’ve seen Jimmy? How was he? Was he healthy?” he asks, suddenly excited. Benny smiles, telling him everything he told Dean, which isn’t too much. Eventually, one of the crew members ask for the captain, and Benny says his quick goodbyes before going along with them.

“You hear that, Cas? They’re fine!”

“Yes, I’m glad to hear that,” Cas agrees. “Also, I went through the journal again, and I’ve tried to get anything new. But…”

“Hey, man, it’s okay.” Dean holds him by the shoulder, gently squeezing them. “If there isn’t anything else to find, then you shouldn’t keep on looking like that.”

Cas nods. “Should we go to sleep, too?” he asks. Dean hesitates for a few seconds, rather enjoying the fresh air. But he has to agree with Cas. They’ll probably be woken up early tomorrow. They should catch all the sleep they can.

Despite Sam’s snoring, he gets through the night. The following day, there’s more card games, this time with Cas joining. Dean teaches him all the tricks about hustling people, while Cas keeps on pointing out how that’s not fair. In the afternoon, the brothers receive a short course on Enochian, just because they have no idea how else to fill their days.

They learn how to write their names in Enochian. Afterwards, Dean insists on learning a few basic sentences. The words don’t make sense to him, but he trusts Cas that he’s not tricking them.

“Hey, how do you say ‘I love you’ in Enochian?” Sam eventually asks. Dean snorts, receives a shove in his side and nearly falls out of his seat. “What? I would like to say it to Jess one day, you know?”

“I understand, Sam,” Cas assures him. “If you want to tell a person you love them, you simply say ‘olani hoath ol’.”

Sam repeats the words silently. Then he shakes his head. “Yeah, I’ll probably forget about that when the time comes,” he admits.

By the third day Dean finds himself sketching random people on the boat. It’s not like he’s really got any talent in the arts, but at least he has to admit that the faces are semi-recognizable. He draws a couple with their child, all three of them reading in silence. He draws the couple they share a room with. He draws his brother, in conversation with a girl with long brown hair and a cigarette in her hands. Even the captain, whenever he catches a glimpse of him.

When, at last Cas emerges from the inside and joins Sam in the conversation, Dean starts on him. But where it took only about ten minutes to get Sam on paper, it seems longer with Cas. His face has a particular shape that looks easy to draw but is in fact rather difficult. That, or he might be adding too many details into it.

Dean doesn’t even know if he finishes the drawing. At one point Cas gets up and walks back inside, and Dean just closes the journal. He puts it back into his jacket and looks back out into the ocean. The wind feels like it’s whispering into his ear, but whatever it wants to say he doesn’t quite understand it.

The fourth day finds Dean joining Benny upstairs. He learns more about the workings of the boat. The tricks and tips of how to sail. When Dean asks after it, he even tells him a few of the island’s local legends.

It goes from a sea-ghost to a bigfoot-type of monster wandering around. Nobody’s ever really seen it, but mentions have been passing amongst the people for many years. Dean had hoped to catch something related to the symbol, but he figures that might have been too hopeful. If it’s been such a mystery so far, he doubts people would willingly tell about it.

In the afternoon of that day Dean takes out his camera and looks through the few pictures he’s taken during their journey. He can recognize the one he took of Cas in the palace in Prague, when they were pretending to be tourists. There are a few random snapshots here and there. It’s rather fun to see how Cas went from a constant frown to a smile here and there. It shows just how much he’s changed.

They both have. It’s insane, really.

That night, Dean finds himself having trouble falling asleep. He’s awake by his brother’s heaving breathing. Sid and Sarah both are already far away in the land of dreams. Dean shifts on his side, eyes resting on Cas’ sleeping form in front of him. He sighs, feeling weird the entire time. There’s this constant tugging that he can’t explain, really. It’s what keeping him awake, he thinks.

Cas sighs in his sleep. He turns on his back, resting one hand on his stomach while the other is next to his head. He mutters out some words in Enochian. Dean remembers absolutely nothing about his Enochian lesson from earlier, so he has no idea what they mean.

That’s when Cas whispers it. _Demetrius_. And it’s weird, the name shouldn’t say anything to Dean. It means nothing at all. Yet, Dean finds himself shivering, feeling nostalgic in a way that he can’t explain. And it bothers him so suddenly.

 _Who is Demetrius_?

Dean shifts again, turning his back to Cas in an attempt to distract himself. He even takes out his cellphone and starts playing a game, but sleep evades him.

Until it doesn’t. Because without realizing it, he’s once again in a field, during a sunny day. It takes no genius for him to know where exactly he is. And who will be waiting for him. He turns, finding her there with a child in her arms. She’s feeding it, the strap of her dress hanging loose under her arm.

“Cassia,” he greets her. Cassia looks up, a smile coming up on her face.

“My love,” she returns. When Dean is close enough, the two lean towards each other to kiss. Then Dean takes place on the grass next to her, looking at the child in her arms. “He’s hungry.”

Dean smiles. “I can see that,” he chuckles. He reaches out for the boy’s hand, chuckling when he holds on tightly to his finger. “This another dream?”

“Yes,” Cassia agrees. “You look troubled. Is there something bothering you?”

Dean shrugs. “I dunno. It’s probably nothing.”

“Tell me?”

Dean hesitates. Will she know the answer? How much is he even himself in this dream? Usually he doesn’t have any control of what he does and says here, but now it feels like he’s himself again.

“Demetrius,” he starts, the name making Cassia look up. “Who is he?”

Cassia looks confused. She shakes her head, reaching out a hand towards his face. Then she touches his cheek in a gentle caress.

“You still don’t remember,” she then says, even more mysteriously. Really, that doesn’t help Dean at all.

“No, obviously,” he returns, a bit annoyed that she can’t just give him a straight answer. Cassia then pulls her hand back, returning her attention to her son.

“Demetrius is my husband,” she then says.

“I thought I was your husband?”

“No, you are Dean.”

Okay, now she’s not making any sense at all. Dean feels the strong urge to just tell her to stop being so vague all the time. But then she speaks again.

“You are my love, but you are not my husband. Demetrius is my husband,” she explains.

“That doesn’t make any sense. You don’t love your husband?”

“On the contrary,” she counters. “I love him very much. I love him more than anything in the world. Him and our children.”

“I really don’t get it,” Dean admits in defeat. Cassia just chuckles and it sounds like music in Dean’s ears despite the situation.

“There’s nothing to get. It’s all very complicated, but it doesn’t make it any less true.” Cassia reaches out for him again, taking his hand into her own. “I love you. Whichever form I have, whichever form you have, I will always love you. And I know you can feel it somewhere. Stop fighting it, just let it happen.”

“I’m not fighting anything?”

“Yes you are, you just don’t realize it.” She leans forward to kiss Dean’s lips again. “If you don’ believe me, look at your journal.”

Then Dean’s pulled out of the dream. He gasps for breath, feeling around him to see if he’s still in his bed. Which he is. When he looks to the side, he finds Sam standing next to his bed.

“C’mon, man, let’s just get breakfast, okay?”

Dean takes heavy breaths, his chest going up and down. Whatever he just dreamt… it keeps him feeling strange. Like there’s something stuck on his body that he can’t shake off. Sam leaves the room, and a quick look at Cas’ bed indicates that he’s already up as well. Dean’s all alone in his room. So he digs under his pillow, taking the journal and going through it quickly. When he gets to the sketches he barely pays attention to them. They’re just that; sketches. Rough drafts. But when he gets to the last drawing his breath stops.

Because that’s Cas. But, not just Cas. It’s an Angel. It’s Cas, drawn in the same way Cassiel was always pictured. Reaching one hand to the deserving and refusing the ones who are unworthy. Dean’s breath catches, his finger passing over the drawing.

He can’t even remember drawing this. How can he not remember this?

_I love you. Whichever form I have, whichever form you have, I will always love you. And I know you can feel it somewhere. Stop fighting it, just let it happen_

His brain is going crazy, trying to link the hunt with his current… emotions? Emotions he never even fucking realized he had. He’s going insane, that’s the only answer there is to it.

At breakfast he’s silent. Cas is distracted with a book. Sam is in conversation with Sarah. Dean just pokes in his food, not hungry at all.

He realizes he’s avoiding Cas. Before he finishes his food he goes outside, hiding away in the back while ignoring the cold around him. He’s left alone until noon, where Sam finds him to get lunch.

But Dean feels strange all over. He hates this, hates this feeling. He can’t even explain what’s wrong. Everything’s fucked up.

He’s aware that he’s worrying his brother. Worrying Cas. But when they ask him what’s wrong, he can’t explain. He can’t, because he has no idea what’s bothering him so much. Except of course for the fact that his stupid brain seems to link Cas and Cassia as the same person.

That’s fucked up. Everything about this is. Dean nearly feels the urge to throw the journal in the water to get rid of it, but he doesn’t. It’s the only thing he has left of his mother after all.

Around the evening he’s found again. This time by Cas.

“Dean?” he asks carefully. Dean doesn’t move.

“’m not really hungry, Cas,” Dean tells him. He hears a sigh behind him.

“I didn’t come to get you for dinner. I was just worried.”

Dean closes his eyes, pressing his lips together in a thin line. “Why are you always so nice to me?” he then finds himself asking.

“Excuse me?”

“I was an ass. I was a jerk. I hated your guts for no good reason. And you keep on being worried for me. Why?” Dean turns, facing Cas at last. He ignores every weird feeling going through his body when he sees Cas standing there with warm clothes.

“Because… You didn’t trust me and you never had a good reason to do so. I do not blame you for that, Dean.”

“Well, you should,” Dean grumbles back. He turns back around, leaning his elbows on the railing. Hearing Cas’ footsteps, he’s not surprised the man comes to stand next to him.

“What’s bothering you, Dean?”

Dean balls his hands into fists, biting his lower lip while he tries to stop himself from answering something in the likes of ‘you’, because that can’t be taken the right way no matter how he says it.

“I don’t know, it’s just… my dreams are fucking with my head and I can’t explain it. And I don’t even know why it’s bothering me this much and… I don’t know…”

Dean loosens his fists. It’s like his entire body is itching, wanting something but unable to tell him what exactly. It’s the strangest sensation he’s ever had before. When he feels a hand on his he turns his head around, getting a bit dizzy at how fast he turns. He turns around without really realizing it. Cas moves his hands up to his chest. Dean barely realizes it when his fingers come to rest on Cas’ hips. Their faces move forward, cheeks right next to each other. Dean can hear Cas breathing next to his ear. He feels his own heart race like crazy.

“I don’t want to keep fighting this,” Cas whispers out. And shit, if that isn’t just exactly how Dean feels. Except… wait, is this how Dean feels?

Dean moves a bit to the side, gently rubbing his nose over Cas’ cheek. Cas’ hands move up to his face. When he pulls a bit at Dean’s head, he goes along with it. Their lips close together, Dean finds himself smiling.

“Then let’s not,” Dean then says against his mouth. Then he leans forward even more, at last kissing him for real. Cas’ hand go away from his cheeks, instead throwing his arms over Dean’s shoulders. Dean pulls him closer by his hips.

It’s weird. Not the bad kind of weird, obviously, but more in the sense of him feeling like his head is floating. It’s as if he’s not even on the boat anymore, but instead he’s somewhere far away, nature all around him. Maybe a lake? With the sun shining on him.

It’s like memories go around in his head, but none of these he’s ever lived through. Yet there’s still something familiar about them. Something familiar about the individual he’s holding so closely.

They stop the kiss. Instead, just holding each other in a strong embrace. Nobody speaks, because nothing needs to be said. Dean’s hand pass all over Cas’ back, while Cas holds on to his shirt. Eventually, simultaneously, both move their fingers to their shoulders. Dean to Cas’ right one, and Cas to Dean’s left one. Exactly on top of their marks. 

 _Good job_ , a voice in his brain tells him. He ignores it, instead holding Cas closer to himself. Somehow, finally feeling good for the first time in a while.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might just want to add: I chose Tristan and Inaccessible like a year ago or so. I didn't do too much research about it, only knowing it existed and that it was perfect for this setting. After focusing the entire story of it, I came to the point of GETTING to Tristan, which immediately slammed the door in my face. It is in fact pretty much impossible to get to Tristan on just a whim. Going to the island takes months of preparation in advance. There are only a rare amount of boats heading that direction from Cape Town and there aren't any planes or helicopters heading that way.   
> Still, I found myself a bit at a loss of how to continue. I figured taking another island for it, but Inaccessible was just too perfect for it. So instead I decided to just take some freedom with it. With this, I just want to make sure that a simple travel to Tristan is not possible without preparation. Not that anybody here will suddenly get the inspiration of going there, but you never know I guess
> 
> Also, sorry I kinda glossed over the entire Meg-thing. The story is written in Dean's POV, so we're not really getting to see the conversations she has with Cas. With that, she's kinda just there until they leave. Sorry about that, again.


	17. Shipwreck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings in end notes

Sam doesn’t know. Dean’s not planning on telling him, because he’s not sure what’s to be told. The last day they’ve spent on the boat happened just the way every other day did. Nothing much has changed, which Dean finds himself grateful for.

Arriving on land, Dean gets introduced to Benny’s wife, Andrea, who was waiting for them to make port. He has to admit that she’s quite lovely, and had he been younger and she unmarried, he would have been all over her. But now as he shakes her hand, his eyes can’t help but wander somewhere else.

Cas doesn’t act differently. That evening on the boat they eventually separated after hearing some noise. They both went their own way, arriving at the dinner table at a different time. Nothing’s brought up, and nothing seems awkward.

There aren’t subtle glances, aren’t unseen touches. It’s al just pretty much the same. It almost makes Dean wonder if anything even happened at all.

Benny offers them a place to stay. It’s a nice surprise, because it means they don’t have to rent any rooms our guest houses. The married pair offer up their two guest bedrooms for them. When Dean asks why they have two of them, they just say something vague about changing the nursery after not needing it anymore.

Andrea guides them to her car. There aren’t any rentals on the island, and public transport is mostly limited to the morning. If a person doesn’t own a car, it’s mostly by foot that distances need to be made. Luckily, Andrea doesn’t drive for too long and they all arrive at a nice-looking family-house that’s clearly too big for the two of them.

“We’re planning on moving to somewhere smaller eventually,” Benny admits as Andrea unlocks the door. “It’s not like we really need the space anymore.”

Their house is cozy, comfortable. There’s a few paintings on the beige walls, the floors made of wood. The hallway has an opening to the living room, and a door that leads to the kitchen. Underneath the stairs is a toilet.

They get the quick tour. When showing the bedrooms, they find that there’s a single bed and a double bed for them to choose from.

“Dude, no way that I’m getting in another room with that noise-machine over there,” Dean jokes while nodding to Sam.

“I agree,” Cas adds. Sam just glares at them.

“C’mon dudes, Jess never complained about it!”

“That’s probably because she sleeps with earplugs. I didn’t bring any along, so you just take the single and we’ll take the double.”

Dean hopes it’s not too obvious what he’s doing. Though, to be fair he’s not even really sure what he’s doing. Is this him trying to subtly get himself alone with Cas again? Is he hoping to have a conversation with him, to see if things at the boat really happened?

Knowing Dean, he won’t even mention it.

“Anyway, when you’re sorted out your sleeping arrangements, I’ll prepare us some lunch,” Benny interjects, nodding towards the stairs. “Then we’ll see about getting you that boat if you want?”

“Thanks, man. You’re really helping us out a lot.” Dean squeezes Benny’s shoulder gratefully. Benny just winks.

“Wouldn’t want you guys to lose that trail of yours. How ‘bout you tell us all about it during dinner later on, huh? Maybe we could give y’all some insights from the Island’s view?”

“Don’t mind if I’ll take you up on that offer,” Dean chuckles. Then he picks up his bag and turns towards the door which leads to the room with the double bed. “C’mon, Cas, we should probably freshen up.”

“Of course,” Cas agrees.

“Sam, if you plan to take a shower, do it now because otherwise one of us will claim it.”

“I’ll go now,” Sam says. “I’ll tell you when I’m finished.”

“Deal.” Then Dean closes the door behind him and drops his bag on the ground again. Cas, meanwhile, goes to the bed where he opens up his own bag. He takes out some fresh pair of clothes and puts some of the books on the nightstand. Then he takes his phone charger and plugs it in. The device makes a sound to confirm it’s charging.

Dean just looks at him. Is it really just his imagination, or is Cas literally doing like nothing happened? Should he ask about it, perhaps?

“When Sam’s finished, would you like to shower first? Or will I go?” Cas asks without turning around. Dean simply leans against the door, now just feeling confused all over. He puts his hand on his forehead while looking down at the ground.

His dreams have been messing with him more than he imagined. Yeah, that’s probably just it. It could have all just been in his imagination… Go figure.

“Dean, is everything alright? Are you feeling ill?”

Suddenly, Dean’s hand is pulled away and Cas’ takes its place upon his forehead, like he’s measuring his temperature. Dean pulls his face out of reach.

“No, man, I’m fine,” he returns. “Just a bit confused.”

“Why are you confused?” Cas then asks. He tilts his head to the side, eyes never leaving Dean’s.

“I dunno, man. It’s like… did it really happen? On the boat? Or did I just imagine it?”

Cas frowns before heading back to the bed where he picks his bag up and sets it down on the ground. Then he kicks off his shoes and sits down on the mattress. When he pats the space next to him in an indication for Dean to follow, the man does as instructed. He takes of his shoes and takes place opposite of Cas.

“Let me start with the most important question. What exactly do you think happened?” Shit, he just sounds like he’s trying to analyze things. Is Cas secretly a robot? He’s kind of acting like it right now, after all.

“C’mon, man. We… you know?”

“I know, but I need to know if you can even say it.” Cas sounds serious. Dean scrapes his throat, preparing himself to say it. He doesn’t want to, but… he just needs to know where they stand right now.

“We… kissed?” Dean tries. Cas smiles slightly, but it disappears again immediately. Though, now Dean realizes he’s just trying to remain serious. It’s all so obvious in that small slip of emotion.

“Why?”

“Because, dude… we both kind of wanted to, no?” Dean’s not too sure about that answer. To be fair, before it even happened he never even thought of doing that. He can almost guarantee that Cas will agree with him.

“Fair enough,” Cas then says. Dean rolls his eyes, kind of letting his impulses take control when he takes Cas’ hand into his own. Cas’ eyes widen, surprise obvious on his face.

“Would you- I mean, would it be weird if we do it again?”

Now Cas does smile. He squeezes Dean’s fingers before rolling his eyes.

“If you want to do it, it’ll have to be now. Because when Sam finishes with his shower I’m out of this room and making use of the hot water,” he says in a low voice. Dean snorts before leaning forward, their faces close, though both still hesitant for a bit.

Before their lips even manage to touch there’s a knock on the door. The two pull apart, their hands letting go of each other. Cas then gets on his feet, taking his fresh set of clothes and making his way to the door.

“Looks like you ran out of time,” he jokes. And the jerk is actually intending on just walking out like that? That can’t stand. Dean jumps out of the bed, running across the room to grab Cas’ hand and pulling him back. Before Cas can say anything, his clothes fall out of his arms. Dean puts his hand to the back of his hand and his lower back, and without a warning he kisses him right there, right then. He closes his eyes, feeling Cas relax against him.

It doesn’t last for extremely long. By the time he pulls his face away, Cas has red cheeks.

“Yup, still feels right,” Dean then jokes. Cas rolls his eyes, pecking him again on the mouth shortly before completely letting go of him and exiting the room. Dean bites his lips together.

Shit, this is real. This is actually happening. He can’t describe how it happened, it’s like it was suddenly there. He takes his bag from the ground and choses his own fresh set of clothing. Then he leaves the room, heading to Sam’s instead. After a short knock, he’s granted permission to enter. Not that Dean would have listened if Sam told him no.

“Hi, you okay?” Sam asks while passing a towel over his hair. He’s already dressed, though his shoes are still kicked away somewhere.

“Yeah, man, peachy,” Dean returns. He’s not saying anything. He doesn’t want to. It feels kind of fun, keeping this thing quiet. Not that he’s embarrassed, but it’s more because he doesn’t really understand it, himself. “So, we’re headin’ out tomorrow?”

“I think that’s the best,” Sam agrees. He walks to the bed where he takes out some papers from his bag. It’s some of the information they printed out before leaving for Tristan. “The only way to Inaccessible is by boat, and if Benny’s prepared to rent us one we could sail there.”

“You think we can just get there so quickly? It was already a pain in the ass to even arrive on this island, never mind somewhere that’s literally inaccessible…”

“We might have to bring it up with the Island Council, but if we tell them it’s for research they’ll surely let us go.”

By the time all three of them are showered and seated at the table, they explain their plans to Benny and Andrea. Much like they suspected, there’s only one thing they suggest.

“The Council’s your best option, I think. If you want, I can try to arrange you a meeting tomorrow morning. Today’s a bit difficult to get them all together. I’ll make a few calls.”

“Than you, Benny. That’s extremely generous of you,” Cas says.

“Oh, please, it’s not like it’s that much effort. After all, Andrea’s sister’s in the council, isn’t she?”

Andrea nods. “Yes, I’m sure Beth will hear you out. But they’ll need to know what exactly this research is about. Could you tell us more about it?”

Andrea and Benny both lean forward in curiosity. Cas looks down, while Sam turns to Dean, who shrugs. It shouldn’t be that big of a deal, right? They can trust them, he’s sure.

So he tells them everything they know for now. And, after some insistence from both Benny and Andrea the day afterwards, they manage to retell their tale the day afterwards to the council of the island.

It’s almost like Cas said; the symbol seems to be enough for them to convince them. They just had to enter the room and the people of the council were already aware of who they were.

“So, the three of you are really a special case,” the woman in charge says. Dean forgot her name, even though she just told him. “Normally one would have to wait close to 40 days before they’re granted entry into our little island. Yet here you three are, after only a week. Now, tell me what exactly it is you’re intending to find out about the symbol?”

“If it’s not too much to ask,” Sam then starts instead of answering. “Is there a knowledge of the symbol on this island? Are you aware of what it means?”

A couple of the members look at each other. Dean feels a chill pass through him. Next to him, Cas’ hand accidentally bumps up against his. It’s only for a few seconds, but Dean finds himself guilty of lingering there a bit.

“There are some local legends told about it, yes,” a man starts. “A man who fell for an Angel and built a Kingdom on the only island in the world that is truly inaccessible. Obviously, tales are tales and so far there haven’t been any signs of proof that this kingdom truly exists, as even planes have flown over it and no ruins have been found.”

“It might be very well hidden, though. We believe that this symbol leads us to it, and so far the trail has brought us here, to Tristan. We wish to sail to Inaccessible today, if possible, to try and find for any way in that might be concealed.”

Sam is good at this. No wonder he wants to be a lawyer, Dean thinks again. His little brother’s just good at everything.

“If you don’t mind me asking, it’s not the first time that people came to get permission for a travel to inaccessible. If you were the first, I wouldn’t hesitate at all to let you go, but so far the two other people that sailed that way have still not returned, and none of our fishermen have seen anything. Why should we allow you to follow in their footsteps and possibly disappear?”

Shit, that’s their dad and Jimmy the man’s talking about. The three share a worried look. Then Dean sighs, pulling off his jacket and, once more, revealing the brand on his shoulder.

“I believe that the answer to why I have this is somewhere on that island. One way or another, we’ll find our way there,” he says. Then, much to his surprise, Cas joins him, revealing his own right shoulder. This time, Sam, too, seems shocked at the sudden reveal.

“We’ve been carrying this question with us our entire lives,” Cas starts explaining. “We would feel very grateful if you would help us find the answer. And next to that, it is also a rescue mission. Because the two men that have already left for the island are their father and my twin brother. We would very much like to find them.”

The council members all share a moment to think. Dean and Cas both pull down their sleeves, returning to where Sam is standing. When he mouths at Dean something in the kind of ‘did you know?’, while pointing at Cas, Dean just shrugs.

So yeah, he knew. It’s not like he was aware that Sam didn’t know anything about it.

“Very well, gentlemen,” the woman in charge then says. “You are granted permission to visit the island. Mr. Lafitte will guide you to the port where he will assign you your ship.”

“Wait, we get a ship for our own?” Dean can’t help the words, too shocked to hold them back. To get a boat all for themselves is rather… extreme, no?

“Obvious, a certain fee will be demanded for the rental of the boat, but the permission to travel to Inaccessible is granted. I sure do hope you know how to sail?”

Dean looks at Sam, and Sam does the same. Luckily, their Dad taught them how to do that from a very young age. He figures it’s just like riding a bicycle.

The three nod, not exactly unhappy about this outcome.

“If you do not return after five days, Mr. Lafitte and his crew will come and look out for you around the island. But if he does not find you in over twenty-four hours, he will be instructed to return.”

It’s kind of a dark sight ahead, but it’s probably the best they’re going to get. Besides, the island is not _that_ big. And hopefully they’ll find the city fast enough. Or any other sign that Jimmy or John are still alive out there.

So, that’s how a few hours later they find themselves back on a boat. It’s not the same boat as the one they came in. It’s a speedboat, mostly used to just enjoy sunny days with, Benny said as he walked them to the port. It’s a bit windy out, but otherwise the weather’s rather great. Still, it’s not sunglasses-worthy

Sam’s quiet. He’s staring out into the ocean, unmoving. Silent. Dean’s not really sure if he should ask if anything’s wrong. Sam’s usually somebody who shares his troubles with the others, so if he keeps it private it’s probably because he likes to keep it that way.

Besides, Dean’s busy steering the ship forward. With his gaze alternating from the compass to the empty, broad ocean in front of him, there’s not really much time to talk about personal matters. Except… there is, because it’s not like there’s a lot for Dean to focus on.

Yeah, he might just be telling himself that he needs to concentrate, while in fact nearly none of that is needed.

Cas is behind him, close but still far enough away. If he would reach forward, he would be able to grab Dean’s hand. But he doesn’t, which Dean is grateful for. Right now’s not really the time to explain any of this stuff.  

“So, uh…” Sam’s voice comes out of nowhere, filling the silence. “It’s nice that we got this boat, huh?”

Dean smiles, tapping the steering wheel affectionately. “Yeah, and she’s quite the beauty, too. Wouldn’t mind having one of these for my own one day.”

“Then why don’t you get yourself one?” Cas asks behind him.

“All in due time, my friend. All in due time.” Dean chuckles before letting out a deep breath. Sam walks from the side to the steer, offering to take it over from Dean. He’s not gonna say no to that, giving Sam the wheel and taking a step back.

Dean then sits opposite of Cas. He throws one arm over the edge of the ship, feeling some cold drops of water touch his skin. This moment here would have just been amazing during the summer. Just the three of them, probably heading to another island, only this time not with some crazy maniac after them.

A nice beer, some snacks. Yeah, things would have been great. But they’re keeping their food for when they’re really hungry. Not the time to eat just for the occasion.

“So, uh, Bobby called before we left,” Sam suddenly says. He keeps on dropping conversations on them. It’s like he’s tired of the silence and wants something to talk about. “Said that Jessica’s wounds are well healed and she’s out of life-danger when it comes to those.”

Dean nods. “So now she just needs to wake up, huh?” he says. Sam shrugs.

“Yeah…” Sam clears his throat. Another drop of water touches Dean’s arm. He pulls it away to dry it off before he winks at Cas. “Listen, Dean, about that…”

Oh, no. Is he gonna get it? What is he even gonna get? He didn’t mention anything this time, right? Is there a reason for Sam to be angry at him, perhaps? Did he find out Dean knew about Cas’ symbol for a while now?

“What’s up, Sammy?” Dean asks, but his little brother seems to hesitate. Dean then rolls his eyes, gets up and nods at Cas to just give them a moment. Cas does so, immediately, walking towards the back of the ship where he leans on the railing.

Dean takes place next to the steering wheel, his head resting against the window of the boat.

“Something bothering you, little brother?” he tries again. Sam looks uncomfortable. Clearly unsure of what he’s going to say and how he’s going to do it.

“You know, that day in the jungle… with Meg…”

“Yeah?” Of course Dean remembers. They separated due to Sam being pissed at him, and then Dean fell off a cliff. Good times.

“I said some things to you that I shouldn’t have said.” Sam gives him a grim smile, clearly apologetic. “It’s not your fault that Jess is like this. I’m sure that Jaune would have done something about it anyway. Especially if he had your girlfriend _dump_ you just to keep you in the field.”

Dean frowns. For the first time he actually realizes it doesn’t stab at him to be reminded of Cassie. It’s refreshing, to say the least.

“Though that doesn’t take away from the fact that you never mentioned you had a girlfriend.” Sam almost seems insulted by that. “What’s up with that?”

Dean shrugs, eyes shifting to the everlasting ocean in front of them. “I dunno man, I was freshly dumped. First girl that I loved since I can even remember. Was ready to share my life with her, but, you know, right when I was about to pop that question she suddenly ends it. My pride got hurt.”

“What excuse did she give you?” Sam asks.

“Excuse?”

“Yeah, like ‘it’s not you, it’s me’, or ‘I want to focus on my career right now’. That kind of crap?”

“Oh,” Dean chuckles while shaking his head. “Uh, I told her about the treasure hunting. Explained that I wasn’t planning on stopping that, but that she could always join me if she wanted. Then she started calling me crazy, said something about me messing with her and making shit up. Eventually I got kicked out.” Dean shrugs. It feels good to talk about it.

“You really loved her?” Sam still seems surprised.

“Yup.” Dean pops the ‘p’, a deep breath leaving through his nose.

“You still do?”

And that question makes Dean shudder without him being able to control it. Almost as if his entire body recoils at he idea.

“Nah,” he admits. “I might not think too highly of myself all the time but… I guess I deserve better.”

Though that isn’t fair. He’s hated Cassie for breaking his heart like that, but knowing that she did it to keep him safe? It’s too harsh on her to say these types of things. But she did use something that he’s passionate about and stomped all over it just for the process of breaking his heart. She did that rather than just say something in the likes of ‘I just don’t love you anymore’. Dean would have understood that. Would have respected that.

Sam pulls him back out of his train of thoughts. “So, uh, what’s the deal with Cas’ symbol, you think?”

It’s a good question, yet one Dean has no answer to. So Dean pulls up his shoulders in a clear indication that he lacks a response to it. “I dunno, man. Surprised the heck out of me.”

“Yeah, you didn’t seem too surprised back then,” Sam deadpans.

“It surprised the heck out of me when he showed me the first time,” Dean corrects himself, then. “Listen, Sammy, I’m sorry I didn’t say it. I just figured it wasn’t my shit to tell. Cas showed me that in confidence.”

“I’m not angry,” Sam says quickly. “On the contrary, I’m rather glad that you two get along so well lately. I think you two might even become good friends one day.”

Oh, Sam has no idea. No, not at all. Dean blinks before looking back at Cas, who is seated down with a book in his lap and earbuds on. He’s actually listening to music to prevent hearing anything from the conversation. That guy’s just incredible in so many ways.

“You never know,” Dean says, though distracted because of the wind blowing in Cas’ hair. It looks wild, and Dean would find it funny if it would stick like that after they get to land.

It’s as he looks at Cas that he sees it behind him. A dot. Two dots. They’re not islands.

“Sam, I think we’ve got company,” Dean admits. Sam turns to have a look, cursing when, he, too, sees it. Dean groans in annoyance before getting to Cas and kneeling down next to him. Cas startles, pulling out his earplugs. Is Dean imagining it, or is it raining?

“Dean? What’s wrong?” Cas asks in confusion. He then raises his head to glance at the sky. There are clouds above them. Is it possible that an actual storm snuck up on them? Can’t they just ever catch a break?

“C’mon, Cas, get ready,” Dean warns him. He takes Cas’ book out of his hands and puts it aside. “Get your gun and put on that stupid safety vest.”

Cas does as he’s told, taking the butt-ugly orange vest from Dean and accepting his help when he offers it. Dean pulls a on the straps to tighten the vest well enough. Then he moves to get his own before he takes over the wheel to let Sam do the same thing. There’s no way that they’re going to sail through a storm without this shit on. Even less sail in a storm while go toe to toe with Jaune and his men.

The sound of the gunshot comes out of nowhere. Dean ducks automatically, especially in combination with the gigantic wave that suddenly comes up in front of them, dropping a couple of drops onto them. Sam stays under the roof, while Cas remains at the open back with his gun ready for aim.

“Are they shooting at us?!” Dean shouts in panic.

“Are you really that surprised?” Sam throws back. Dean shrugs, unable to disagree with that fact. He avoids another wave by turning the boat harshly, making it nearly tip over.

He hears someone close-by shooting as well. It’s Cas, he figures. That’s good. As long as he keeps cover, obviously. Sam gets out of the shelter and joins him.

“They’re surrounding us!” Cas calls out. The raining gets harder, the wind biting into their skin.

“Just keep shooting! I’ll get us on land!”

“And then what?”

Yeah, and then what? Dean has no idea what his plan is here. They have an enemy that’s impossible to take out and who has ten times the men they have. No, that’s putting it lightly. Jaune literally has a freaking army at his side. They’re extremely outmatched here.

But Dean sails in circles around the island. There’s the occasional boat that tries to cut him off, but Dean always nearly manages to evade it. Though with how much it makes the boat nearly tip he doesn’t want to risk that much more often.

“I’m out of ammo!” Sam’s voice only barely reaches his ears. Dean grunts, throwing his own weapon in his brother’s direction. Sam catches it easily, aiming back at Jaune’s men. Dean’s not even sure if they’re actually hitting somebody. It would be nice if they did.

“Dean watch out!”

Cas’ warning comes just a tad bit too late. Dean never sees the boat that approached him from behind until it suddenly speeds next to him. It bumps up against them, the ship being that much larger than theirs. Dean loses his grip on the steering wheel, bumps his head against the railing and falls into the water.

“Dean!” he hears before his ears are covered by the ocean, which nearly seems to be pulling him under. When he manages to get over the stinging in his eyes that salt-water always brings along, He gasps for breath before diving back under, only just in time to miss the propellers of the enemy’s boat.

He resurfaces, a good distance away from their vehicle. Cas is hanging over the railing, searching for him while Sam is steering it. Once Cas notices him, he reaches out his hand.

“Dean! Take my hand!”

But there’s no chance for Dean to even get there. Before he can swim even a second, the big boat returns, ramming into their side. Dean hears their ship crack, flames coming up and causing a blast that literally throws Cas and Sam overboard. Shit, shit, shit! They need to be alright!

Dean wants to swim their way. He really wants to. But a piece of falling debris seems to disagree with him. It drops on his head, and instantly everything turns black.

By the time Dean opens his eyes again, he’s on land. There are rocks underneath him, uncomfortable, digging into his sides. He’s wet, but from the looks of it it’s still raining. Dean feels the drops in his face. And creeping up to his legs before disappearing.

“Dean!”

That’s Sam! Good, he’s alright. Sam’s good! That’s great! Dean opens his eyes to look for his brother. Before he can manage that, he’s being hauled up by somebody and pulled along the shore, away from the water. The stones still dig into his skin, but he can get the appeal of being out of the water.

“Sammy,” Dean whispers out. Shit, his voice is hoarse again. He starts coughing, actual water coming out of his mouth. Dean sits up, feeling Sam slap him on his back.

“Just take deep breaths, you’re alright,” he tells him. Dean coughs out all the water before groaning in exhaustion.

“We- we got them?” he asks. His eyes are closed again. It’s too much of an effort to keep them open. He leans back, against his brother who doesn’t seem to want to let go of him.

“No, they got us,” Sam says regretfully.

“Where’s Cas?”

Silence. That’s not okay. Adrenaline spikes back into Dean, making him open his eyes and look around. It’s dark, mostly because of the evening, but also because of the storm. The wind is blowing wildly, nearly tipping over the trees. Dean’s heart is racing, realizing that, where-ever he looks, Cas is not there.

“Dude, seriously, where’s Cas?!”

“I don’t know! The boat blew up and we got separated. I found you floating around but Cas was nowhere to be found.”

Dean gets on his feet, running back towards the ocean. He nearly trips a few times, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is…

“Cas!” he shouts towards the sea. All he gets in return is another high wave, as if the ocean’s telling him to get back. He doesn’t listen to it, instead getting himself punched back down on the ground. Sam is on him again in an instant.

“Dean, we need to get out of here!” Sam urges on.

“We need to get Cas!” Dean struggles out of his brother’s hold, putting his hands around his mouth as he calls out Cas’ name again. But there’s nothing. No indication that Cas is still there somewhere.

Sam pulls back on his arm, getting him away from the shores and into some sort of shelter. Just some well-placed rock above them. It makes Dean think back of that day in the cave, back in the jungle. Cas had been there. He should be here, too. Automatically, his hand goes to his shoulder as he sighs in defeat.

His heart aches, his entire body feeling wrong. He shivers from the cold, making his muscles complain with every movement. Next to him, Sam attempts to start up a fire, though there’s no good result this time. They’ll just have to stick this one out.

“We’ll find him, Dean,” Sam assures him. Dean doesn’t answer.

Instead he keeps his eyes peeled on that shoreline.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:  
> \- near drowning  
> \- a shipwreck, though I figure the chapter title is enough of a spoiler for that.


	18. Accessibility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings in end notes.

Dean doesn’t know how he managed to fall asleep.

His clothes are still damp when he wakes up. There’s a presence next to him which he quickly recognizes as his brother who is still fast asleep. Dean grunts, getting on his feet to check the place out. The first thing he looks for is Cas. Who he hopes might have appeared on shore.

But there’s nothing. Just some debris, pieces left of their boat. Even their box full of provisions, though it’s empty when he opens it up. Great, they have no food, no weapons, and nothing to keep them warm. This surely is going to end up in disaster.

At least he can be sure that they’ll be found by Benny and his crew eventually. They’ll just need to stay on shore.

Not that Dean’s going to do that. He’s got somebody to find, after all. The lack of Castiel by his side annoys him so greatly that it nearly makes him want to shout it out in annoyance.

“Dean?”

He turns around, noticing his brother is waking up. In the aftermath of the storm, branches and leaves have fallen down on the ground. Other than that, the sun is shining and the temperature is in fact rather pleasant. That’s something to be happy about.

“’m here, Sammy,” Dean assures him, heading back to his brother who looks like he hasn’t slept for a minute. Dean feels bad for him. He should look out for his brother, and yet yesterday it happened in the other direction. Dean was so stuck in his grief that his brother had to look out for him, instead.

“Any sign of Cas?” he asks.

“Nope,” Dean sighs. “Lost all our stuff, too. We’re stranded.”

Sam sighs as well. He looks around before getting on his feet. “How ‘bout we check out the island? See just how inaccessible this place really is, huh?”

Dean nods, figuring that it’s best to keep moving. They could use the sun to dry off their clothes, after all.

They walk the length of the beach. There’s no sand on the shore, just the stones. It’s what makes the water so clear and blue. But Dean barely takes the time to think about the beauty of this place. Every shift or movement he sees, even though made by the animals of the island, Dean always expects Cas to just appear out of nowhere.

But it never happens. And Dean just rubs against his shoulder again, nervously.

“Dean, are you okay?” Sam eventually asks. Dean shrugs.

“Not really,” he admits, which is a big step for him because he would normally never admit to anything like that.

“It’s Cas, huh? You’re worried about him?” Sam sounds so sincere, sad for him. It makes Dean want to crawl out of his skin. “I get it, Dean. I’m worried, too.”

“It’s not- it’s just not the same, Sammy. I’m- I can’t-“

“Something happened, huh?” Sam’s voice is soft, low. Like he’s hesitating to bring it up. “On our way to Tristan, something happened… I noticed something changed between you two. I just thought you’d bring it up when you’re ready.”

“I can’t explain it, Sammy, it’s like…”

“It was bound to happen?”

Dean stills, eyeing his brother carefully. They’re reaching the end of the shore, and Dean’s pretty sure there’s no way forward for them after this. It’ll be climbing or waiting.

“Dean, have you never thought about the possibility that, whatever we’re chasing… you two are involved with it?”

Dean snorts, rolling his eyes. “What, like Cas and I were just destined to end up like this? Give me a break, Sammy…”

But Sam stops, grabbing Dean’s arm and pulling up his sleeve. “No, really, Dean. You both have this mark. The mark that, so far, has always hinted towards an Angel who fell in love with a human.”

“Cassiel and Demetrius,” Dean whispers out without realizing it.

“What?”

He blinks, his mind back from wandering. “Uh, Demetrius. That’s the name of Cassia’s husband. The man she fell in love with.”

Sam frowns. “How do you know that?” he asks.

“Uh, she told me,” Dean shrugs. If he pretends it’s not that big of a deal, it surely won’t be.

“Where?”

“In my, uh… in my dreams…” Dean rolls his eyes. Okay, so it’s probably a bigger deal than he’d expected. Shit. “Cas had dreams, too. Dreamt that he was married with a man called Demetrius, while I was married with Cassia…”

“And you never thought to mention the fact that you’ve been dreaming about the woman we’re researching?”

Okay, Sam sounds annoyed. Dean can understand that, but he has to cut him some slack here, seriously.

“C’mon, man, I never thought anything of it. And then when I heard Cas whisper out that name in the night I asked Cassia during one of my dreams. She explained some shit, giving me some crap about how she loves me no matter which form we have.”

“Dude, seriously,” Sam growls out. “That’s some pretty big stuff and you just decided not to tell me?”

“Sammy-“

“And then there’s the fact that you knew Cas had the symbol. Don’t tell me you couldn’t put two and two together?”

“Sam!” Dean shouts without realizing it. Sam flinches, taking a step back. “Seriously, there’s no supernatural crap going on here. We’re not some very distant descendants from Cassia or Demetrius. We’re not reincarnations of them, we’re nothing. We’re just us, and maybe this whole shit might have tricked us into becoming something we were meant to become, but that doesn’t mean that we decided to get it on because ‘it was our destiny’.”

And now Dean’s done talking. Sam just seems annoyed, grumbling away in bitterness while he starts moving forward again, until they get to the edge of the shore. Great, now there’s really nowhere to go.

They turn around, starting on the trek back, when suddenly Dean notices it.

“Dude… are those stairs etched in the cliff?”

Dean points at the thing he sees. Sam’s mouth falls open in the surprise that Dean might be right. He’s pretty sure he’s not hallucinating it. He really sees stairs in front of him. Stairs that he hasn’t seen before.

“What the fuck?” Sam gets out. “How is it that nobody’s seen this before?”

They run towards it, their exhaustion from their restless night suddenly forgotten. Afraid that the stairs would disappear if they linger, Dean makes the first step upon it. Feeling it under his feet is enough to make it clear that this isn’t a hallucination. This is real.

Holy shit.

“Okay, this is insane,” Sam mutters. The brothers step up, keeping their hand against the cliff due to a lack of railings. One step wrong and they could fall a long way.

It feels like hours that they go up. The sweat is rolling down his skin as Dean reaches the top, finding himself surrounded by nothing but trees. No indication or anything that somebody’s been here.

“Huh,” he mutters. He puts his hands on his hips, taking in the green around him. The trees look healthy, and the flowers exotic. Some birds fly over them, making some noises that almost sound like they’re singing.

When Sam finally joins him, the two stand there in silence. Dean doesn’t know what to say. He knows that he kept stuff from him. Stuff he probably shouldn’t have. But he never really took it all seriously. Not until…

Until Sam brought it up…

Shit.

“Listen, man, I’m sorry,” Dean gets out. He turns towards his brother, needing to look him in the eyes. “I know now that I should have told you. I just thought… I thought it was my head messing with me…”

Sam stays quiet for a bit, looking at Dean with hard eyes. For a moment, Dean fears that his apology won’t be accepted that easily. That is, until Sam’s eyes soften a bit and he sighs.

“It’s okay…” he says. “Just… next time tell me those kind of things, alright?”

“Sure, I will.” Dean’s not sure if he’ll remember telling his brother every little detail of his life, every dream he doesn’t think too seriously about. It sounds a bit far-fetched. But, for now it’ll ease his mind.

Besides, Dean’s not intending for anything like this to happen again.

Dean then takes the first steps into the forest. He’s followed by Sam, the two of them occasionally calling out Cas’ name.

After the first hour, Dean’s still hoping to find him.

After the third, he’s pretty much given up hope.

Having decided to take a break from all the walking, Dean grits his teeth together from worry. He’s about ready to slam his head against a tree. He hates this, hates feeling like some part of him is missing.

When Sam was missing back in the jungle it had been kind of the same, but different. Because with Sam he knows that the guy can take care of himself. And sure, he’s seen Cas do some badass tricks against some opponents, but when it comes to surviving in the wild without anything to eat or drink, Cas is literally untrained…

“So, uh… what’s in store for the two of you after this?”

Dean turns towards his brother, finding Sam leaning against a tree with a hand going over his forehead to wipe off the sweat.

“What do you mean?”

Sam shrugs. “You and Cas? What’s next? You plannin’ on retiring and live with him?”

“Dude, seriously?” Dean shakes his head, his mind not really comprehending what he just said. “We’ve known each other for almost literally a month. There’s no moving in together, and no retirement in sight.”

“Ah, c’mon, man, if you two are the reincarnations of Cassia and Demetrius, aren’t you two kind of meant to be together?”

“Only if you believe that crap,” Dean shrugs. “Which I don’t. It’s entirely possible we won’t even speak to each other after this is over.”

“I don’t believe you,” Sam laughs.

“Sam, seriously, I appreciate you trying to distract me, but I’m honestly about ready to slam my face against this very tree here if you mention Cas one more time.”

Sam’s face falls and worry dawns over him again. Then he presses his lips together, an indication that he’s going to shut up now.

Dean closes his eyes for a bit once the silence has returned. With only the sounds of nature around him, he tries to listen to the different things he can hear. The leaves moving with the wind. The sea in the distance. The birds in the trees. A waterfall somewhere further away. A fly that flies near them.

Dean’s eyes open again, and he jumps up on his feet.

“A waterfall!” he calls out. He turns to where he guesses the source of the sound is. Sam gets up as well.

“What do you mean?” he asks, confused.

“Can’t you hear it?” Dean points in the direction of the fall. “Somewhere there it is. A _waterfall_.”

Sam’s eyes widen, his mouth falling open in understanding. “The city of Waterfalls.”

They start running in a flash. Their need to rest is by now long forgotten as they jump over roots, crawl under branches and pass a small river that doesn’t even cover their feet fully.

Dean is completely out of breath when he first catches sight of a building. He nearly stumbles on his feet when he tries to stop, and before he can even manage that, Sam bumps up against him and the two brothers end up on the ground anyway.

After Sam gets up again, Dean rolls onto his back while he tries to get his breathing under control. He puts a hand over his eyes, counting to ten inside his head to calm his heart.

“I don’t think this is the city of waterfalls,” Sam says. Dean looks up, getting into a seated position. He sees Sam standing a bit further away, his hands on his hips as he looks around from a distance. “This looks more like some village in the outskirts. Barely a few houses here…”

Dean stands up as well to join his brother. He has to admit that it doesn’t come close to a city. When it comes to waterfalls, there’s maybe one of them and it’s not even a big one.

“Hey, I think it’s better than nothing,” Dean says. He nods towards the little village, an indication that they should check it out. Sam doesn’t complain, following after him with curiosity in his eyes. Good. A curious Sam always means that they’ll search this place through and through.

And perhaps, if Cas followed the same idea of going after the waterfalls, they might find him eventually. The thought makes Dean’s heart skip a beat. He refrains himself from calling out after him. After all, there’s still a strong possibility that Jaune’s men are around here somewhere. With those stairs so easy to find, it’s not really going to be so hard to get into the inner island.

The first two houses are meant for a family. There’s three bedrooms in both of them, little metal and clay toys scattered around. Dean could be mistaken, but it looks like the people left in a hurry. When he finds some sort of letter on a desk, he picks it up and tries to read it, only to be stopped when he realizes it’s in Enochian.

“Better take this along,” he mutters. He takes out his journal, which has had the time to dry overnight – though it feels rather ‘yuck’ right now. Some of the things his mother wrote are barely readable. The only things that seems untouched is the drawing he made of Cas, which literally makes no sense at all, but he’s learned by now not to question it anymore.

The room of the children reveals nothing much, in neither house. The third house looks like it belonged to an old couple. There’s some sort of painting of them, though it’s partly destroyed by nature taking over. Their faces are still recognizable, though, only they don’t bring up anything in Dean. In here there’s more stuff in Enochian, including books and tablets. Dean takes the occasional thing along, but only what he can carry along in the journal.

The fourth house turns out not to be a house at all, but instead some sort of tavern. Dean can see the bar, the chairs, and even a few freaking instruments on some kind of podium, though when Sam tries to pull at the string of the violin-like thing it snaps. He finds some books on inventory in the back, but nothing else more.

“It’s incredible,” Sam mutters. “Look at this stuff… it’s all so… modern?”

“Dude, there’s nothing modern about this,” Dean grunts out.

“C’mon, Dean, you’re not going to tell me that ancient Greece had these types of things.” He points towards the tap, which indeed looks a bit too modern for what he’s come to expect from ancient Greece. As a matter of fact, it almost looks like…

“They must have inhabited this island for a while then. A few hundreds of years, I would assume.” Dean taps against a window, trying to test its strength. It holds, much to his pleasant surprise.

“But what drove them out?”

There’s no answer to that. Not an immediate one, that is. They manage to get through the rest of the village, finding only a few more letters for Cas to translate. Dean’s about ready to just call this place completely looked at when he hears the voices. People, entering the village. Dean grabs his brother by the arm and hides inside a building that has more holes in it than actual walls.

Sam doesn’t ask what’s wrong. He trusts Dean’s instincts, which Dean’s grateful for. They kneel down in front of the broken window, waiting a few seconds before the first of Jaune’s men shows up. They’re still wearing their typical green jacket. One of them has a shotgun in the hand. The other a machine gun. They’re talking to each other, not even thinking about the fact that they’ve seriously lost the element of surprise here.

Again.

“I tell you, the guy’s insane. At first I thought he just wanted money. But after he killed that girl… I dunno, if I wasn’t fearing for my own life I would have told him to shove it where the sun don’t shine.” The guard’s voice is low, maybe even a bit nasally. It annoys Dean endlessly.

“You said it. You heard he even stabbed his own daughter in the gut? The guy’s a psychopath. And now that we’ve got that Novak-guy… I just hope he finds what he’s looking for soon enough, and we can get back home… I’m getting sick of all these jungles.”

Dean takes a deep, shaky breath. Jaune has Cas. He’s taken hostage, probably. That can’t mean anything good, especially given the fact that they can’t take Jaune down, so it seems.

“Hey, man, what’s taking so long?” the first guard asks, looking behind him. Who-ever he’s talking to, Dean can’t see it.

“Dude, you try getting this guy to move. I nearly have to drag him across the freaking jungle!”

There’s a thud, somebody falling on the ground. Dean can’t see who it is, but he can probably guess. The name escapes his lips in a whisper.

“Cas.”

And true enough, once the fallen person is standing again, Cas’ disgruntled figure reveals itself to them. His clothes are ripped at the sleeves and the neck. There are some scratches on his face, and blood on his nose and lips. Shit, it looks like he took a beating, somehow.

Dean smiles without realizing it. He turns to Sam, who nods to indicate that he’s seen it, too.

“Well, get a move on. We need to set up camp here before the boss arrives.”

“Easier said than done. This guy already gave Earl a broken nose and fractured Thomas’ arm! I don’t exactly want to follow in his footsteps.”

Cas just stares ahead of him. It’s as if he’s filtering out everything the men are saying. Somehow, it makes Dean proud to hear that Cas broke a dude’s nose and another one’s arm. That’s badass.

“Just do as you’re told, Carl.”

The guy behind Cas, Carl, just makes some mocking sounds before he pushes Cas against his back, urging him to stand up again. Cas obeys wordlessly, though with some sort of amusement in his eyes. Oh, he’s got this situation under control, Dean realizes.

The two men at the front have started walking further into the village while Carl struggles to get Cas to co-operate. Once there’s enough distance between the two of them, Cas reveals his freed hand, the broken rope falling down on the ground. Before Carl can say anything, Cas puts his hand on his mouth to keep him quiet, before he knocks him down. He catches Carl before he falls down, hiding his unconscious body inside one of the buildings.

“Dude, Carl, where you at?”

Cas doesn’t reappear, though he doesn’t have to. Dean gestures towards Sam that they’ll take care of the two remaining men. They sneak to the side, waiting for their window of opportunity. Once the men have their backs facing them, they climb out of the broken window, creeping up to the guys before both grab a man and pull them under. Once they’re no longer moving in the high grass, they let go, breathing out a loud sigh of relief.

“Cas?” Dean asks loudly. Then, only seconds afterwards he’s got a hand pressed against his mouth.

“Shhh, there are more around,” he hears Cas whisper into his ear. Then he gets pulled back behind a wall, Sam following after them. Cas is right, they see immediately afterwards, as more people start to show up.

Shit, they didn’t do a good job at hiding those two from view…

“Novak got loose! Search around!”

Cas looks over the edge of the wall, his hand still pressed on Dean’s mouth. Sam curses, probably realizing that they don’t have any weapons. That is, unless they can grab something from those two out there. Looks like Jaune’s men weren’t too careful about keeping weapons lying around.

Eventually, Dean tires of Cas’ hand. He pulls it off his face, instead taking Cas by the arms and wrapping him in a strong hug.

“You’re really here,” Dean whispers, not really able to believe it.

“Yes. They’re searching for the city.” Cas eventually lets go of Dean to gesture towards the village around them. “I think they were kind of scared of me; they couldn’t see the stairs that brought us up here. For them it was like walking on air.”

“Strange,” Sam mutters. “We saw it, too.” He turns towards Dean who has by now started observing the area around them. The fact that they went through the village already means that they know the place at least a little bit. He gestures towards his companions to follow him.

This is the type of scene in a movie or a game where the suspenseful music would be playing to keep everybody on their toes. Being in a movie would have made it easier, because then at least the music could indicate a near-discovery or something like that.

Now they just have to trust their guts. And it’s his gut that tells him to grab the guy now passing them and throwing them over the wall. When he lets go of his weapon, Dean catches it with ease. Seeing that it’s a shotgun, he hands it to his brother.

Dean prefers a weapon with range. Making sure that there’s nobody nearby, he kneels down next to the two men he took down with Sam. Robbing them of their weapons goes easily enough, and eventually all three of them have something in their hands that can shoot.

“You know, I’m getting real tired of these guys,” Dean mutters in annoyance before he hides himself back behind a large wall. He hates the suspense, the constant fear of being discovered. He doesn’t know if he hates it more than having to shoot his way out.

Next to him, Cas takes out another guy. Sam jumps up to the first floor of the house they’re currently in. There, Dean can hear some muffled sounds before something drops to the ground. Dean moves forward, heading for another guy near him. He pulls him down into the high grass, keeping his hand on his mouth and nose until he’s sure he’s passed out.

“Dean, sniper,” he hears behind him. Turning around, he finds Cas looking up, pointing at a guy at the top of the waterfall on a small cliff. Dean smirks, rubbing his hands together

“Alright,” he breathes out. “I’m going up.”

Before he can leave, somebody grabs his arm. When he looks he find Cas giving him a worried stare. Dean smiles at him and pats his shoulder.

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” he assures him. Then after a quick wink he pulls himself out of Cas’ hold and starts going up. The two remain on the ground, taking out the guys there. Dean goes the opposite direction. He enters a building, going up the stairs where he can and hides behind a pillar when a guy shows up. Once he’s close enough, Dean grabs him, smashing him against the wall and knocking him down. He takes the ammo for the handgun before moving on up.

Eventually he runs out of stairs. He jumps up, grabbing a wooden bar with the intention of climbing up. That is, until he hears footsteps approaching. Hoping that the guy won’t notice his hands, Dean hangs on for a bit.

The man notices him right when Dean grabs for his foot. He doesn’t even have the time to shout. Dean pulls him off the boards, making him fall down from a height Dean doubts will feel good afterwards. He might break a few bones, but he doesn’t feel sorry for him. Anybody who works with Jaune is just as crazy as he is.

“Alright, Dean, don’t get caught. Don’t get caught.” He keeps muttering in a hushed voice to keep himself reminded of the situation that he’s in. He just hopes that, downstairs, they’re not screwing it up, either.

When he’s reached the top of this building, he moves on to the next one. It’s at a jumping distance away, so there’s no hesitation when he launches himself to the window in front of him. Instead of diving in all the way, he holds on to the border, waiting until the guy approaches. There he repeats what he did with the other one. There’s no shout, just a surprised gasp and after that a crash.

“What was that?” he hears underneath him. Dean curses, climbing up immediately despite not knowing if there’s anybody else in there. He makes sure that he’s out of sight, jumping upwards towards the broken stairs. The boards creak underneath him, probably attracting the attention of other guys.

Dean stays quiet the entire time. He’s only one building removed from the rifle. Just a little bit further, and he’s good.

He hears the guard underneath him before he hears him. With a sigh, he lowers down one floor before sneaking up on him. He punches the guy right in the face, making him fall down right where his friend went. Before going back up he looks out of the glass-free window. He can see Sam and Cas move together. They make a good team, it’s rather amazing. Dean finds his mind wandering for a moment, so extremely happy for some reason.

Footsteps above him pull him back into reality. He goes up the boards once more. It’s another success of pushing the guy off. After that, it’s just one more building to go. Dean grunts out some words of reassurance to himself before he makes the jump.

Stones crumble under his fingers. He nearly falls down all the way, only to hold on to leaves which cut into his hands. He curses in silence, searching for a place to stand so he can check out the wound.

Great. This is just what he needs. It’s going to slow him down a bit, but it won’t stop him all the way. Dean rips off a piece of his shirt and wraps it around his palm, hissing when the fabric touches his open skin.

With some effort Dean manages to get at the top. From then on, he jumps onto the cliff next to the waterfall. He probably hits the sniper a bit too hard, but he’s rather annoyed. The guy doesn’t move on the ground, not even grunting in pain. Dean doesn’t stop to see if he’s still alive.

These guys let their boss kill an innocent girl. Dean’s not going to make sure they all survive.

With the sniper in hand, Dean takes a moment to take a breath. The guys at the top have been taken care of from his side, but there’s still the few on the other side. The ones that are getting closer and closer to noticing Sam and Cas down there.

Dean aims the gun, searching for the guys remaining. There’s three of them, as far as he can tell. Dean decides that, even if he shoots, it’ll be difficult to even find him. So he doesn’t hesitate. Hitting the first one right in the head, the guy drops down before he can even get the others in his line of sight. The enemy now knows that he’s here, but as long as they can’t find him there shouldn’t be a problem.

He waits a few seconds before getting back up and getting the second one. This time he doesn’t hesitate, moving to the left to get the last one, too. After that, he pulls his head back, looking around. Sam and Cas get up from their hiding spot, looking in Dean’s direction and holding their thumbs up. Dean grins, grabbing the ammo that remains up here and getting himself back down with the gun tied around his back.

“Dude, that was amazing!” Sam calls out, running towards him to catch him in case Dean falls. Dean grunts once his feet touch the ground. He pats Sam on the shoulder, smiles at Cas before he takes a deep breath.

“Amazing or not, it was exhausting. I could really fall asleep on the spot…” Dean stretches his body, his bandaged hand catching the attention of Cas.

“You’re hurt,” he points out. Dean looks at the limb in question, shrugging.

“It’s just a scratch,” he assures him. Before Cas can counter that argument, Dean pulls his hand out of reach and nods further. “C’mon, let’s find out where to go from here on out.”

He starts walking, the two behind him following wordlessly. They head back into the jungle, leaving the village behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:  
> \- People kinda die I guess? It's based on Uncharted, after all.


	19. When worthy, legacies open this gate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings in end notes

They walk for a long while.

It’s long, mostly because they don’t have any food or drinks with them and they have to improvise on the way. Making extra sure that the fruits they find aren’t poisoned is enough to get all their concentration, but finding water that is healthy to drink is a whole other deal.

They make something work, eventually. After leaving the village behind, they’ve only taken a break three hours later. By now it seems like evening is starting to fall. They don’t have a tent or blankets, so it’s going to be another sleepless night, Dean is sure.

For the bigger part of the day, Sam and Cas are talking. About what, Dean has no clue. He’s tuned it out after the first hour because he kept missing his steps and nearly fell a few times. Also, the cut in his hand really starts to sting, and it’s rather annoying. But, that’s not something he’s intending on telling the others.

There’s another village they come across towards the evening. It’s another coincidental find, but not one he’s unhappy about. At least that way they can be sure they have shelter, and somewhere to build a fire.

Dean drops down on the ground after getting to the center of the village. He’s too tired to even go through the houses. He rolls onto his back, taking in the open sky above him. It seems like the houses are all built hidden underneath trees so the village wouldn’t be visible from a view from above. Rather clever, really.

“Dean, c’mon, we need to get something to eat,” Sam complains, poking his foot in Dean’s side. Dean grunts in annoyance.

“’m not hungry,” he mutters. He can practically hear Sam roll his eyes and put up a bitchface. He doesn’t even need to see it. Just the sound of his sigh is enough for that.

“Well, I am, and you’re getting food in you, too.” Sam pokes him once more, this time hard enough to make him roll over.

“Fuck you and your stomach.” Dean pushes himself back up. His legs feel tired, as does the rest of his body. He seriously just wants to sleep, no food required. But, if princess Sam is hungry, then somebody should get something ready, probably.

“C’mon, Cas. Sam can take care of the fire,” Dean grunts. Instead of waiting for Cas’ answer, Dean grabs his arm and gently pulls him along into the woods.

“Are you alright, Dean? You seem tired.”

Dean gives him a dry glare, not even bothering to give him an answer to that question. Cas chuckles in embarrassment, looking away rather quickly before starting his flashlight. At least he still carries one, and what luck that it survived the water, too.

“I guess that was a stupid question,” Cas admits.

“It’s okay, we’re both tired,” Dean assures him, bumping up to him to make clear that he’s not upset or anything. “Let’s just get some fruits or whatever. It doesn’t even have to be good, as long as it sates Sam’s hunger for a bit.”

Cas chuckles, taking a few steps towards a tree and reaching up until he gets some sort of mango-like things.

“Not to be complaining or anything, but I’m pretty hungry, too.” Cas takes off his coat and puts the mango he found into it, carrying it like a bag.

Dean moves forward, too, taking a few more fruits out of the tree before putting them into Cas’ improvised bag as well.

“Can’t have that, now, can we?” he asks.

Before he realizes it, he’s already reaches out a hand towards Cas’ face. The knuckles of his fingers are gently passing over his cheek, Cas’ eyes looking down from shyness. There’s a slight red blush on his cheek, but that might as well be from a sunburn.

Cas drops the jacket then. His hands go up to Dean’s arms as he moves closer. His gaze is still lowered, but that doesn’t bother Dean. He moves his fingers to the back of Cas’ head, letting them go through his hair. Dean leans forward, rubbing his nose next to Cas’.

“We really need a shower, don’t we?” he chuckles. Cas laughs, too. Then, finally, he looks up. There’s this warmth going through Dean when their eyes meet and it’s rather exciting.

“I heard that sharing a shower saves a lot of water.” Cas sounds so earnest. It’s incredible just how much this person has captivated Dean. And that in such a short time.

“Or it uses more, depending on what they’re doing in that shower,” Dean returns. He leans forward again, pressing their foreheads together. Both close their eyes, just enjoying this short moment of privacy. They’re alone for a little while, and they’re making the best of it.

“What would we be doing in the shower?” Cas whispers against his mouth. He’s reaching for a kiss, but not actually doing. It would be frustrating if it wasn’t actually hot as hell.

“Depends,” Dean starts. He gently pushes Cas backwards until he’s leaning against a tree. Then he moves his hand to Cas’ hips, not moving his face an inch from Cas’.

“On what?”

Dean chuckles again. “On whether or not you would allow me to kiss you.” He leans forward as well, but denies Cas the kiss. Cas sighs loudly against his mouth.

“Where would you want to kiss me?” Cas now tilts his head to the side for a bit so that his cheek is against Dean’s.

“I would want to kiss you here.” Dean moves up, pressing his lips on Cas’ forehead. Then he lowers down again, kissing Cas’ cheek. “And here.”

Cas sighs happily. “Where else?”

Dean indulges the question, moving so that he can kiss Cas in his neck. Then he moves to his collarbone, up to his right shoulder, on top of the mark. When his lips touch that spot, it’s like something electric goes through him.

He goes from his shoulder to his lower arm, up to his knuckles. Then he links their hands together, holding on to him before getting their faces closer once more. His entire body feels warm, his head like he’s in the clouds. He can barely feel the ground underneath his feet. He’s so excited he can barely express it. And then there’s Cas with him, probably the only person that keeps him from completely floating away to heaven.

“And then?” Cas asks once more against his mouth. Dean breathes out loudly before leaning forward, pressing their lips together.

Each kiss from Castiel somehow feels like their first. But then, at the same time, it doesn’t. Because while there’s still a certain novelty to doing this, it also feels just so familiar. Like Dean already knows just how much Cas likes it when Dean puts his hand behind his head, or how used he already is to Cas’ grabbing on to his shirt like he’s afraid to let go.

Kissing Cas is like the whole world around them disappears for a while. Like… they’re in a secret cave, behind a waterfall. Away from prying eyes, away from other people. Only the rocks and the water to keep them company.

He’s barely aware of the words coming out of his mouth after pulling away from Cas. He grabs his hand without warning, nodding towards the forest.

“C’mon, I know where to go,” he says. Though he doesn’t know where to go. Despite Cas laughing behind him, and Dean making steps he’s barely aware of, Dean has no idea where he’s going.

They get to a clearing. One Dean remembers seeing in a dream. There’s the pond, accompanied by the large waterfall. The evening sun is barely visible from where they are, but there’s still enough light to walk around.

“This place is beautiful,” Cas breathes out in fascination. He holds on to Dean’s hand while he walks towards the pond. The water is clear, constantly moving thanks to the fall.

“Yeah, it is,” Dean agrees. Though he only looks around for a second before his eyes stopping towards the waterfall. With a gentle tug on Cas’ hand, he walks towards it.

“Dean, what are you doing?” Cas asks curiously.

 “Just… trust me.”

Cas doesn’t say anything else. He follows Dean towards the waterfall, not saying a word. They take off their shoes, putting their feet into the water. Together, they then walk through the waterfall. They get completely wet, but Dean doesn’t mind.

He doesn’t care at all, because they’re finally in the cave. And it’s incredible.

He starts laughing. Disbelief going through him as he takes in the place. It’s all there, the rocks, the reflection of the water on the cave walls. There’s even that particular stone he remembers from his dream.

Before he realizes it, he’s taken Cas’ face between his hands and he pulls him closer to him, pressing their lips together in another kiss. Cas follows with a surprised gasp, though he doesn’t seem to disagree with it.

“It’s actually here,” Dean then mutters in between kisses. “I can’t believe it’s actually here.”

He then pulls out of the kiss, grabbing Castiel into a strong hug and practically lifting him from the ground. Cas makes a surprised sound, but never one of disagreement. When he’s put back down on his two feet he puts his hand on Dean’s chest and gently pats him.

“I feel like I’ve been here before,” Cas eventually says. And shit, he’s right. It’s insane, almost hurting Dean’s brain to think about. Everything in his mind says that Cas is right, that they’ve been here before. But the rational part in his head reminds him that it isn’t possible. That it’s probably just something that looks like something he’s seen on TV or whatever.

“I know,” he admits anyway. Cas smiles at him. Dean takes Cas’ hands into his own, unable to hold the smile on his face. “This is kind of the perfect place to get away from people for a while, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Cas agrees. “I don’t entirely mind the privacy.”

Dean takes Cas’ face between his hands again, pressing their foreheads together.

“Me neither.” Dean takes another deep breath, closing his eyes. “Cas… when we lost you, before. I was out of my mind. The thought of not knowing where you were literally drove me insane.”

“I know,” Cas admits. “I was the same way.”

Dean shakes his head. “No, seriously. It was like something was missing, like… a part of me or something. And I know it probably sounds sappy as fuck but I don’t care, because I don’t want to feel like that again.”

“Me neither,” Cas agrees in a whisper.

“Promise me you’ll never disappear from me like that again.”

“Dean, I can’t-“

“Promise me you’ll try, then.”

“Okay.” Cas’ response to that is not one of words given the fact that he only speaks one. It’s more one of action. A simple, strong kiss pressed against Dean’s mouth. His hands in Dean’s hair, a gentle pull towards the water.

Dean doesn’t remember taking off his clothes until he’s only in his boxers. One moment he’s fully dressed in wet clothes, the next he’s in the water, holding an equally undressed Castiel close to him. He moves them towards the particular rock Dean thinks he recognizes. There he lifts Cas up until he’s seated on it.

Nothing is said. The only sound being the water slapping against their skin, along with their heavy breaths. As far as making out goes, this one might obviously get to the top experience Dean’s ever had. Cas’ hands go everywhere, as if trying to map out Dean’s entire body. And he does the same, too.

Cas moans a bit when Dean’s hand goes over his shoulder. Dean gently bites into the skin of his neck, making Cas gasp and scratch his nails over Dean’s back. It doesn’t hurt. It feels very familiar, instead. Dean enjoys it a lot.

He pulls him off the rock, Cas’ legs wrapping over Dean’s middle as he gets them back to the shore. There he lays Cas down on the floor, making sure that not too many rocks are digging into his back. Afterwards, he joins him, leaning over him. He pulls on Cas’ leg, holding on to his thigh as he leans on his other arm.

“What are you waiting for?” Cas whispers breathlessly into Dean’s ear. The leg that Dean keeps up suddenly curls around Dean’s waist again, pulling him closer towards him. The sudden closeness makes them grunt simultaneously.

Dean can’t help it anymore. Through the layers of his boxers, he can feel Cas underneath him. He seems just as interested as Dean, which is indication enough for him to continue. Carefully, he shifts forward, pressing together while kissing Cas again.

He can’t describe it, it’s like everything at once. Fireworks, climbing a fucking high mountain, flying, swimming… All the thrills he’s ever felt before in his life are suddenly multiplied by ten, it seems. It makes his entire body shiver. He squeezes into Cas’ thigh, his other hand balling into a fist. Cas’ mouth is having its way on Dean’s throat, biting his skin and kissing him wildly.

“Cas…” Dean can’t form any more words. He’s so beyond that point now. There’s so much he wants to tell him, things that he realize would scare him if he thinks about it again in an hour. Luckily, nothing comes out of his mouth.

“Dean,” Cas whispers in return. His nails dig into Dean’s back, crawling down until they’re on his hips and pulling him even closer. Somewhere along the way they both lost their boxers, leaving them completely naked in the middle of the cave.

It feels amazing, but there has to come an end to it eventually. As Dean moves faster above Cas, that building feeling becomes stronger and stronger. It’s like a strong wave that’s heading his way, until it reaches him and both are screaming it out in their pleasure. He’s barely aware of the sting he feels when Cas’ nails once again dig into his skin, and he might have bitten Cas a bit too hard on the collarbone.

Dean is breathless, pulling himself off Cas and rolling over until he’s lying next to him. He lands on his back, his eyes closed while he tries to calm his heart.

Cas reaches out his hand, taking Dean’s in it and tangling their fingers together in a strong hold. Dean shifts his head, looking at Cas with a small smile on his lips. He doesn’t say anything, though. There aren’t any words left to say for him. Nothing that matters, anyway.

But it can’t last. “We should get back to Sam,” he says. It could be dangerous to leave him alone for so long, especially with all of Jaune’s men still wandering around. Cas seems to understand. He sits up, getting on his feet and taking their shorts off the ground. After they’re both dressed with difficulty – putting on wet clothes is hard as fuck – and back outside outside Dean finally realizes that the sun has finally set. They use Cas’ flashlight to find their way back to camp. Dean grabs a few more fruits from the trees, and Cas gets his jacket back from the ground.

Sam’s already got a campfire started. He’s sitting there, his head resting on his hand, looking rather bored from waiting. When he notices the two of them, dripping wet, he looks less than happy.

“Seriously, guys? I’ve been waiting here for, what, an hour?”

Oh, yes, he’s upset. Dean feels the immediate guilt going through him. He lowers his gaze, loosening his hand from Cas’ hold to get it up in an apologizing gesture.

“Sorry, Sammy. We kind of lost track of time.” He puts down the fruits before taking off his shirt and wringing the water out of it.

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll get to do enough of that shit when we’re back home, okay?” Sam grumbles, grabbing one of the mangos and using a pocket knife he thought of buying in Cape Town to open it.

“We were just-“ Cas starts, but just one glare from Sam was enough to shut him up. “You’re right. I apologize, Sam. It wasn’t fair of us to run off like that.”

There’s an awkward silence around the campfire. Nobody really knows what to say to get a conversation started. Sam is pissed off, which nobody can blame him for, and both Dean and Cas are waiting for their wet clothes to dry off next to the fire.

After eating some of the fruit, Sam makes himself a bed from whatever he’s found during his time alone. The blanket he uses is just his jacket. Dean and Cas decide to do the same thing. They get some stuff that could act as a mattress. Putting out some of their clothes next to the fire, the both of them lie down on their individual cot.

Nobody goes to sleep right away. The three of them are looking up at the sky, the stars shining brightly in the dark.

“Hey Sammy?”

No answer. Though the lack of snores makes it clear that he’s still awake.

“Remember when Dad told us that great people from the world lived on in the stars?”

Still no answer. Dean’s not going to give up, though.

“Yeah, we were so hung up on his words, thought that it was kind of amazing that a man like him could say something like that.”

“The dude got it from the Lion King.” Sam sounds amused, though only slightly. It’s a start.

“Yeah, I realized it when I took my then-girlfriend to see the movie in theaters. That day I started wondering who the hell he went to watch the movie with.”

Dean tilts his head to the side, seeing a small smile on Sam’s face. It’s a good look.

“Still can’t believe that Bobby agreed to go with him that day. Can believe it even less that they would have gone without us.”

Dean enjoys this. A trip through memory lane isn’t often something he likes to do, but… whenever it involves his brother and something to laugh about, he’s never too far away from joining in on it.

“They were actually going to watch the movie ‘The Crow’, but they got in the wrong room and didn’t dare to get up,” Dean remembers.

“Yeah, that’s what Dad probably told you. The guy just secretly loved watching animated movies and you know it.”

Dean laughs, a tear forming in the corner of his eye. He wipes it away, putting his hands on his stomach while gazing further into the stars.

“It was Robin or something, wasn’t it?”

He lets out a questioning hum, not really following to what Sam is saying.

“Your girlfriend. Robin, right? The one who taught you how to play the guitar?”

And it comes back to him. Right, the girl who worked as a waitress in the diner. They were living in Hurleyville back then, though only shortly. He never really properly broke up with her because his dad just suddenly decided to leave town with them. He kind of cringes at the memory that he stood her up for the homecoming dance because of that.

“Yeah, that girl will probably never want to see me again,” Dean mutters in shame.

“Do you even want to see her again?” Sam is teasing him. Alright, he’s calmed down. To the point where he’s doing this. Great. Dean shouldn’t complain. Especially when he catches some chuckles coming from Cas’ side as well.

“Well, uh, I mean… Not in a, like, romantic way or anything. Just… wouldn’t be bad to know how she’s doing after all those years, is all.”

“Careful there, you might fall over those sentences.”

“Oh go suck an egg, Sammy!”

 

Dean is in most occasions described as a light sleeper. Just a single noise could make him grab his gun from underneath his pillow and aim it at the person crawling closer. It’s a habit that his father drilled into him, and he so far hasn’t gotten himself out of.

That’s what makes him the first one to realize that there’s something wrong. Hearing the twigs break under feet, the leaves crumble as they’re being stepped on, Dean realizes rather quickly that they’re not alone.

He sits up. His entire body feels stiff due to the lack of a good mattress. His neck hurts from the position he’d taken.

“Guys,” he hisses towards the others. So far, they don’t seem surrounded. But it doesn’t seem like it’ll take much longer. Dean gets on his feet, poking both his brother and Cas in the sides to wake them up. Sam jumps up immediately, also used to reacting the moment it’s needed. With Cas it’s a bit difficult and Dean actually has to start shaking him.

“What’s going on?” Sam asks, already on edge. Good, they can use that. At least it means that he’s concentrated.

“I think they found us,” Dean clarifies to his brother in a whisper. When Cas finally wakes up, he starts groaning loudly. Dean instantly puts his hand on Cas’ mouth to stop him from making further noises.

“Cas, I know you could use more sleep but we need to get out of here immediately,” Dean warns him. Cas’ eyes go wide. At last he gets on his feet as well. They stump a bit on their improvised mattress, scattering it around the place. The fruits they collected they put together in the jacket Cas has by now transformed into a bag. Then, without a word, Dean guides them right into the forest.

“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” Sam asks as they run. There’s no time to be slow about it. The further away from camp they are, the better.

“I don’t know,” Dean admits. “I think I do.”

But then suddenly Cas grabs his arm, pulling him along to the right. “I think it’s through here.” He points towards a group of dark trees that look like they’re so close together it’s impossible to go through.

“I don’t know, Cas,” Sam counters hesitantly.

“Trust me, this is the way.” Cas keeps his hand around Dean’s wrist, dragging him along into the plants. Dean shrugs towards his brother, making a ‘what can you do?’ gesture with it. Sam rolls his eyes.

It’s like Cas is swallowed by the plants, and his intense grip on Dean’s arm means that Dean is next. He closes his eyes, really not wanting any branches or leaves to poke into his eyes. Behind him he can hear Sam grunt in annoyance.

It doesn’t last for too long. Dean takes a deep breath once he’s no longer surrounded by trees all around him. The sound is different, too. Like… there’s more waterfalls, perhaps? He opens his eyes, finding that they’re in a large clearing with about three large waterfalls in the trees. Dean’s mouth falls open.

It’s such a beautiful sight. Almost indescribable. The morning sunlight that’s pouring through the leaves make beautiful spots onto the ground, moving along with the wind. The water gets reflected so brightly that it nearly looks like it’s glowing. And the waterfalls, they’re…

They’re huge.

And also hiding something behind it.

“Guys, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Dean asks. Next to him, Sam nods.

“It’s like a large gate,” he agrees. Cas hums to indicate that he sees it, too. His hand around Dean’s wrist finally lets go, and as if he’s acting on automatic pilot he starts walking forward. Dean stays where he is, studying the entire gate thoroughly.

There are two large stone pillars with markings etched on them. Large, Enochian letters are written upon them. Dean can’t understand any of it, but he’s sure Cas might.

There’s a column held up by the pillars. The decorations upon it are in gold, with small figures drawn into it, though Dean can’t see them from where he is standing. At the top of the column, etched into the grey stone, is the symbol. Cassia’s symbol.

“I can’t believe it,” he mutters. The long grass caresses his hands, shifting in the wind. The waterfall forms some fog at the base, further masking the gate, especially on the ground. There doesn’t seem to be a pathway towards it, but Dean somehow knows there is one.

“Cas, how did you know?” Sam asks, equally shocked by the discovery they’ve made.

“I don’t know,” comes back from the other man. Cas is looking down at his hands, as if somehow they guided him to this place. But when Dean’s eyes rest upon the inside of Cas’ hand, he realizes what exactly is the matter.

There’s blood on his skin. Dean looks at his own hand, quickly finding that his wound has reopened in his hurry to leave the camp. He curses, taking off his ruined coat and ripping the fabric loose. Then he binds his hand again, ignoring the worried look he gets from Cas.

“Well, what does it say?” He points towards the two pillars. Cas doesn’t respond at first, still keeping his eyes on Dean, but after another insisting gesture Cas sighs.

“Uh, it says: ‘ _A safe haven for those tormented by fate. When worthy, legacies open this gate_.’”  

“Well, that doesn’t sound vague at all,” Dean mutters. The three move towards the entrance, going through the mist created by the falls. “Legacies, what would they mean by that?”

Sam shrugs, and Cas simply doesn’t respond. Carefully, Dean passes his hand over the stone.

“When worthy, legacies open this gate,” he whispers, resting his injured hand on the door.

“Dean, the symbol is glowing,” he hears behind him. Dean startles, turning around to walk back and have a look. But when he tries to see it, the symbol looks black again.

“Put your hand back on it again?”

Dean lifts up his left hand, pressing it against the door. Sam frowns.

“Nothing happens,” he says. “Why did it light up before, then?”

Dean looks at his hand. It’s slightly dirty from being in the wild for this long, but it looks healthy enough. His other hand, though… that wound looks like it will scar later on.

He has an idea, suddenly. He changes hands, now pressing the bloodied one against the door. He hates that he stains it, but it’s a theory that he needs to test.

“How ‘bout now?” he asks.

“It’s glowing again.” Sam sounds enthusiastic again. “What did you do differently?”

Dean shows the possible factor that could mean the difference. He waves his bandaged hand, though the blood is all over his skin.

“Legacies,” he mumbles out, nearly no sound leaving his mouth. He squints for a bit, thinking further about it. “Sam, you happen to be bleedin’ somewhere?”

Sam shrugs, indicating that he isn’t. Then he takes out something that looks like a small pocket knife, and he passes it over his skin, cutting himself a small wound on the top of his arm. At least he’s not cursing himself with a freaking wound in the palm of his hand. Those are just the worst.

“Now I am,” he says. he puts the knife away and walks to the door. Then he passes his hand over the wound, taking over the blood. Without further hesitation he then presses his fingers on the door as well. And much like Dean suspected, a rumbling starts. The two brothers pull away, Dean grabbing Cas out of the way just in case the place collapses.

But it doesn’t. There’s a strong vibration in the ground, the falls seemingly getting stronger and creating more fog.

“Holy shit,” is all Dean manages when he sees the door opening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:  
> \- vaguely written sexual content, because I suck at that.


	20. The City of Waterfalls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No chapter warnings, I think

Dean’s seen his fair share of treasure hunting movies. Hell, he’s watched Indiana Jones close to a hundred times. Cassie used to tease him about that, constantly saying that he had a gay crush on Indie. And who wouldn’t, because come on!

In stories, discovered cities are often described as alive, in a way. As if the entire place has survived without any inhabitants, nature not at all having taken over. But Dean’s been to quite a few ancient civilizations to know that movies often get it wrong. Finding cities like that is often not all that pretty. Not because the sight isn’t great, but because of the knowledge that, at one point, somebody was the last to be here.

It’s that very same thought that passes through his head as he goes through the gate; that expectation. There’s nothing but a bright light ahead of him, waterfalls at his sides. Tiny drops get onto his skin, some wetting his cheeks. Dean can only walk ahead.

Nobody says a word. It’s like they’re all just speechless. Because what even is there to say? They’re in a place nobody’s been to in probably two thousand years, they can be forgiven for being a big quiet, surely.

Dean goes into the light. The sound around him only being the falls and their own footsteps. The further they get, the more statues start appearing. It’s not angels; just people. None of them look familiar in the slightest, though at the same time it’s like Dean feels like he _should_ know them.

Eventually, the bright light turns into something a bit more agreeable for his eyes. Mist expands from the falls, but the further he gets, the clearer his sight becomes. Underneath him, the stone has disappeared and has once again been replaced by grass. He looks down, seeing that he walked off a pathway. It turned left while Dean kept going straight ahead. Surely, stepping off can’t get him in too much trouble.

“Is anybody seeing what I’m seeing?” Sam sounds just as shocked as Dean feels.

“Yeah…” Dean doesn’t know what else to say. Once the mist has finally disappeared, Dean sees the large surface of the city spreading around.

It looks abandoned. Ruins all around the place, buildings crumbled down after all those years. Nature has already reclaimed most of the place. But, despite that…

“It’s beautiful,” Dean breathes out. Next to him, Cas hums in agreement.

The buildings have since long lost it’s pure white color. The roofs are golden, as are most of the windowpanes and railings. The stairway that leads to the city is made from blue and white mosaic tiles. The city seems to be surrounded by waterfalls, as if those are the walls secluding it from the outside world.

“Look over there,” Sam says, pointing towards one particular building. Looking at it, Dean realizes that it’s the one most center from the entire place. It’s also the biggest, which could mean that it’s pretty important.

“How about we head that way?” The others nod. They get back on the pathway, going down the stairs towards the beginning of the city.

This time, there aren’t just a few buildings. It’s an entire city, houses, but also market places. Even what seems to have been a freaking park. It’s all there.

The streets are covered in dirt and dust, patches of grass growing out in between the stones. On the buildings, flowers seem to have grown. As they get deeper in, some of the birds searching for food fly out of the way. They’re all so colorful.

“This is insane,” Dean mutters to himself. They walk further in, until they seem to have arrived at some sort of plaza. There stands a statue of a man and a woman with three children. The woman is obviously Cassia, wearing her usual long dress. She holds a baby in her arm which must have been the youngest child. The other two kids are about the height of her hip. The statue has a hand on the girl’s shoulder, while the man’s hand is on the boy’s.

“Holy shit, Dean.” Sam sounds breathless. “You’re seeing what I’m seeing, right?”

He is. His eyes have widened, his mouth fallen open. He’s seen many surprising things in his past, but this just about takes the cake. Dean nearly feels nauseous from it. He leans forward for a bit, taking a few steps backwards. Cas is immediately on him.

“Dean, are you alright?” he asks in worry. Dean looks up at him, almost unable to blink anymore.

The man standing next to Cassia has his face. It’s exactly the same.

“This can’t be possible,” Dean whispers, holding on to Cas’ arms. He glances back at the statue, now no longer able to look away from it. The stone eyes of Demetrius pull him in, as if they’re trying to tell him something.

Sam was right, then? Cassia wasn’t telling bullshit? Did Cassia and Demetrius really reincarnate into them? Was this entire thing about them all along?

Is this thing with Cas even real? Or was it just the past catching up to him? Dean can’t tell. It’s driving him insane. He pulls away from Cas, gritting his teeth together angrily.

“I can’t believe I was so blind,” Dean mutters to himself. His own freaking brother figured it out before him. The drawings, the matching symbols, the dreams… the cave…

“Can you tell what it says, Cas?” Sam asks, clearly ignoring Dean’s sudden outburst.

“Uh, yes,” Cas returns. He clears his throat before returning to the inscription written down next to the statue. It’s in Enochian, because obviously it is. “In loving memory of our King Demetrius and his beloved Queen Cassia, savior of Enochia.”

“Enochia.” Dean breathes out the word, grabbing a feel of it. The city of waterfalls. It’s called Enochia.

“The children are Athanasius and Sofia,” Cas adds to it, pointing towards the two kids.

“And the baby?”

But Cas shakes his head. “Nothing is said about it.” He sounds a bit sad about that. Dean figures that his head is about as clear as it possibly can be right now. He returns to his brother and Cas and clears his throat.

“So, uh, we still goin’ to that large building over there?” he tries.

“Dean,” Sam starts.

“Oh no.”

“C’mon, man, you’re allowed to freak out for a bit, you know?”

Dean shakes his head, holding up his hands with a waving movement. “I don’t have to freak out! Who’s freaking out? Not me, that’s for sure.”

“Dean, you’re freaking out right now.” Sam has one eyebrow raised and his arms crossed. Cas just looks worried.

“You’re right, I’m freaking out,” Dean admits. He leans forward again, putting his hands on his knees while trying to get past this lump in his throat. Cas walks up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it.

“It’s alright,” he tells him calmly. “I’m sure there’s a good explanation as to why you and Demetrius look alike.”

So Cas hasn’t figured it out? Is he in denial, much the same way Dean has been in the past few days?

“The reason is that we are them,” Dean says. He points towards the statue without removing his eyes from Cas’. “Cassia is you, Demetrius is me. It’s what she was trying to tell me in my dream.”

Cas frowns. “You’ve spoken to Cassia?”

Dean doesn’t respond. Instead, he just takes Cas’ hands into his own, his heart speeding up in a sudden wave of fear.

“She said she’d love me no matter what form we were. I thought she was being vague as shit, but it’s the most obvious thing in the world.” He suddenly chuckles, pressing Cas’ hands against his chest. Cas’ frown deepens. “I am her love, but I am not her husband. Demetrius was. And I’m Demetrius.”

“Dean you’re not making any sense.” Cas sounds a bit frightened. Dean hates it.

“Actually, Cas, he’s making perfect sense,” Sam interjects. Dean lets go of Cas’ hands, rubbing over his forehead while looking up at he sky. There’s mostly trees above him. “But I think we’ll find more answers inside that building.”

Cas hesitates for a few seconds longer before he nods. The three head towards the large building, not too surprised to see that the doors are open, the gates destroyed over time. Carefully they make their first steps inside. Due to the multiple windows that were placed in the building – obviously most of them broken given the colored shards on the ground – the interior is rather well lit, which at least means they don’t have to shine around with their flashlights.

The interior is a combination of blue, white and gold, much like the rest of the city. It looks a bit like a church with the seats. At the front, where normally an altar would be, there are two thrones. On top of each of them is a part of the symbol. One with the half circle, the other with the other half and the wings and dots. Dean points towards that one.

“I suppose that one was Cassia’s?” he offers. It’s as good a guess as any, really. “They really were seen as the king and queen here.”

“I’ve got some paintings here,” Sam calls out from a bit away. Dean tears his eyes from the thrones to see what his brother is talking about. “There’s, uh, there’s something you need to see.”

Dean notices Cas a bit further away, obviously still looking confused as hell. He reaches out for him, gesturing him to get to Sam. Cas hesitates for a second before nodding in agreement.

They get to the painting Sam was talking about. It looks like some sort of family portrait. There’s Cassia with a golden crown on her hair, seated on a chair looking heavily pregnant. Seated on the ground are two teenagers, Athanasius and Sofia, though time hasn’t been kind on their faces as they’re almost completely disappeared.

On Cassia’s right stands Demetrius, wearing a white gown and also a crown on his head. He’s got shoulder-length grey hair and a beard. Dean doesn’t know if it’s the painting or anything like that, but Demetrius doesn’t look that good. In comparison to Cassia’s obvious eternal youth, Demetrius doesn’t seem like he’s experiencing immortality at all.

The thing that seems to have startled Sam must be the man standing next to Demetrius. Though clearly older and with obvious greying in the hair, the guy’s face looks like almost an exact copy of Sam’s. Or just the way Dean would imagine Sam to look like when he’s in his sixties.

“What the hell?” Dean asks in confusion. Sam looks out of words, unable to figure this part out. It’s kind of concerning.

On the bottom of the painting is another tablet. Dean points towards it, turning to Cas.

“What does this say?” he asks him. Cas, who inspects the copy of Sam carefully, clears his throat before getting his attention on the Enochian text written down.

“Uh, this appears to be a last family-picture.” Cas kneels down to get a better look. “It’s to memorialize the first Royal Family of Enochia; Queen Cassia and King Demetrius, along with Prince Athanasius, Princess Sofia and the King’s brother, Prince Scamadrius.”

“The king’s brother?” Sam asks loudly. “So you mean that I’m a freaking reincarnation as well?”

They just shrug. There’s no way for them to answer that question. Dean literally has no idea. He’s since shortly given up trying to figure it out. Apparently it all wants to happen without consulting with him.

“Well, I’ve found something here,” Cas then says, pointing to where he’d been before. “It looked like a handwritten tome.”

“Let’s check it out.” Dean pats his brother on the shoulder to assure him he’s just as confused as he feels. But that doesn’t mean that they should stop now. Surely, Jaune can’t be too far behind them. Though, they probably can’t get in without the blood of a legacy – how did Dean not figure it out back then?? – but they could still ambush them on their way out.

They do get to the book Cas mentioned. The papers look weak, like they’re about to break with just a single touch. Cas carefully works with them until he gets to the front of the book.

“It’s written by Princess Sofia,” Cas says. Slowly, he starts translating it for them.

 

_When I was little, I used to ask my mother what it was like to be an Angel. To be able to hear every prayer and help the people out that needed it. To that question, my mother often answered that being an Angel was the most fulfilling part of her existence. She got to help out people, and made sure that Heaven remained pure._

_If somebody’d asked her a thousand years ago if she could ever imagine falling in love with a human, she probably would have smitten that person on sight. It’s rather funny that, thanks to doing her job, she ended up meeting Father._

_King Demetrius wasn’t always so high and mighty. Even as his daughter, I can see in him that once upon a time he used to be poor. Less fortunate. After losing his parents at a young age, he was left with taking care of uncle Scamandrius. Of course children were not allowed to live alone so it wasn’t too long until they were both sold as slaves._

_Uncle Scam was assigned as a simple house-slave. He was smart, and he was still young. My father, though, was taken aside to work as a gladiator. And he was good. He was the best. Every day could have been his last, but he kept on fighting to earn his freedom and get his brother out of this life._

_My father nearly died a few times. He got stabbed, tortured and even had a couple of his toes and fingers cut off as punishment._

_My mother always had her eyes on them. Because her involvement was only allowed to be limited, all she managed to do was make sure that they were bought by the same master. Thanks to my father’s constant praying she would try and make Uncle Scam’s time extremely agreeable._

_Over time, for reasonds to this day still unknown to me, she assumed a human form and descended to Earth. It was unheard of, an Angel going to the land of the mortals. It was frowned upon by the other Angels I think. But she didn’t care. I guess she just wanted to get to know him more._

_During her time on Earth, she pretended to be one of the humans, living in the house of the master that owned my father and his brother. She and my father fell in love out of the eyes of the master, and eventually she helped them escape from the slavery. They moved to Herculaneum, far enough away, where they eventually got married._

_But then the unthinkable happened. The volcano erupted. So many lives were going to get lost, so many even did. But my mother was fast. After making sure that my father and uncle were safe, she returned to the city to evacuate it. She even went to our neighbor cities and got those people out as well. Rescuing them from certain death, she brought everybody away to a remote island. One that is inaccessible from any side. She said that she would keep them all safe, and they all agreed to stand behind her._

_She never told them that the eruption of the volcano was an act of Heaven. A punishment for her abandonment of her duties as an Angel. She warded the entire island off, making sure that nobody would ever be able to find them there unless they were worthy of doing so._

_She and my father were crowned King and Queen of the kingdom, which was named Enochia. The city thrived. No goods from the outside world had to be imported, everything they needed was to be found on the island. If somebody wanted to travel by boat they were allowed to leave, as long as they remained inside the protective barrier of the island._

_Eventually, my brother was born. Athanasius. It was around three years after arriving in Enochia. It was obvious rather quickly that my brother possessed powers that even my mother didn’t. The child of an archangel and a human is incredibly strong. It took her and my father some time to get him to control his powers. Once he got a grasp on them, I was born. My brother and I differ ten years, though we age differently than normal humans. I grew up much faster because I wanted to be big quicker. Athanasius wanted to remain little. Any outsider would assume that we were the same age._

_My mother was able to make the lives of my father and uncle longer. They’ve reached an approximate age of two-hundred years when my mother ended up pregnant for the third time. By that time, my father’s health had heavily declined. Though he lived longer, age eventually caught up to him in ways that my mother could not prevent. Before their third child could be born, Enochia lost their King._

_I know that my mother loved me. She loved all of us. But the love she had for my father was just so strong that it was like a part of her died along with him. She birthed my youngest brother, but she never got to name him, always saying that only my father knew what to call him. After we went to check on her, she took out her own Grace. Why she did it, I do not know, though I suspect she merely wanted to become mortal so she wouldn't have to live eternity without my father. Sadly, her human body was destroyed in the process and she disappeared. We took the Grace and kept it safely hidden in the Garden._

_My brother and I were left with our infant sibling, but the kid is strong. Possibly even stronger than the both of us. He would often cry when he was far away from our mother’s Grace, so eventually we always took him to the Garden. In just a few days a tree grew there. And eventually, our youngest brother put himself into a sleep we could not wake him from._

_It was like he was waiting. We watched him, put him at the tree in the hopes that he would wake up. But he never did. He disappeared in the tree, and neither one of us managed to get him back out. Our brother was, this way, lost to us. Despite our sorrow and loss, my brother and I decided to help our Uncle Scam take care of the Kingdom._

_We’ve tried for two years, but the Kingdom was never meant to thrive without its queen. With her gone, the entire island was no longer protected from the eye of Heaven. Our crops became bad, our water poisoned, disease spread much faster than we could heal them. When the rainstorms started our Uncle and his wife, too, lost their lives. It was clear that we would not be able to remain here any longer. Athanasius and I made the difficult choice of leaving Enochia behind and start a life somewhere else with the people that were still left._

_My brother and I were the only two remaining here. We found it hard to let go of our home. But the sight of all these Enochians, our people, that have perished… their bodies on the streets, no longer able to be with their families… after all, the danger is still there, which is why we need to keep moving._

_We’ve built something in the jungles right after we left. Athan was crowned the King of New Enochia. It’s wild territory, but the ground is healthy. Sadly, after twenty years Heaven found us. Once again, in disguise of plagues the Angels brought destruction upon us. We’ve lost many more people, nearly all of Enochia wiped out. This time we weren’t fast enough to stop it._

_Athanasius and I, afterwards, split up. I’ve moved to the woods close to New Enochia while he remained in the populated areas. After a few generations we’ve lost touch with our own offspring. We even lost touch of each other. The story of Enochia turned into legend, and that eventually turned into myth. To avoid the Angels finding out about it, we made sure the story didn’t blow up._

_Which is why I must finally say goodbye to Enochia. It’s been a thousand years, and our brother hasn’t returned to us. The city is lost, our family is lost. And we’ve got to move on. Got to make sure that the secrets of Enochia don’t end up in the wrong hands._

Cas closes the book when he’s finished. His voice sounds hoarse from all that talking. He keeps his eyes lowered, taking a few steps from the tome to get his thoughts in order. Dean feels the same way. He presses his lips together, trying to get his mind to get this all. What exactly is going on and what are they going to do next?

“So, uh,” Sam starts in confusion. “It’s actually true, then? All that stuff about the Angels? Heaven?”

“I guess so,” Dean shrugs. He knows Cas is standing right next to him, but he just can’t look at him. Not right now. Instead, he inspects his hands, remembering yesterday. In the cave. How much had it been _them_ , and how much had it been their past lives reaching out for each other? Is this thing they have even real?

It feels like there’s not even a real choice on the matter. Unless he makes it a choice; call it off. He could choose _not_ to be with Cas, and then it’s something he’s decided on his own, no?

But does he want that? At last he looks up at him, seeing Cas standing there with such a dejected look. As if he’s thinking the same thing. As if he’s _fearing_ it.

Dean can’t do that. Can’t just push Cas aside because fate seems to have it all planned out for them, right?

So Dean reaches out his hand, taking Cas’ and with that getting his attention.

“It doesn’t matter, okay?” he tries. “Cas, it doesn’t change anything.”

“Doesn’t it?” Cas sounds so unsure, so hesitant. He lowers his gaze, as if afraid to look at Dean.

“No it doesn’t,” Dean repeats. With his other hand he pushes Cas’ chin up, making their eyes meet again. “Sure, maybe things weren’t entirely in our control all the time, but I don’t care. We’re making our own story from now on.”

“Guys, I know this is all kinds of messed up for you, but there’s something you’re forgetting.”

Dean and Cas pull apart, the moment lost. Dean isn’t angry about it, because Sam’s right. There’s the bigger picture that they’re missing here.

“The Grace,” he agrees.

“That could be what Jaune is after, no?” Cas shrugs his shoulders, clearly not too sure about it but guessing it could pretty much be like that. “The philosopher’s stone, the thing that could bring youth to a person. The thing that could make a person live forever?”

“But didn’t Demetrius and Scamandrius eventually die despite of it?”

Cas nods. “Because humans aren’t meant to live forever.” He then sits down on one of the seats, looking ahead with a frown. “I remember from one of my dreams. Demetrius telling me that he was tired, that he felt like he’d lived long enough. I thought it was just him realizing that he was sick and accepting it, but…”

“But what if he chose not to live any longer?” Dean deduces. “Makes sense. And then after he died, Cassia decided that she didn’t want to be immortal, either.”

“Only taking out her Grace didn’t just turn her human; it destroyed her vessel, mutated the remnants of her Grace into a soul that was to be born out of the bloodline.”

It’s speculation, but it could be possible. If what Sofia said is true, the Grace is still somewhere in that Garden she mentioned. She did say something about a tree growing there, so they might have to look for a tree that looks a bit out of place? It’s not much, but at least it’s a lead.

“I say we head to this garden. Anybody got any idea how to get there?”

“I suggest checking out the palace. If this is where the royal family lived, then the garden must probably be here, no?”

They agree to divide in three groups, but stay in shouting distance due to their loss of any type of communication. Though covered in dust, it doesn’t seem like the rooms have changed a lot since their last inhabitants left. Dean gets to a large bedroom he figures must be Demetrius’ brother’s. They get to some sort of library where multiple texts are written, though only in Enochian.

It’s Sam who finds the nursery; there’s an untouched bed in there, a large, colored window lighting the room up in multiple colors. It’s jaw dropping, giving such a beautiful view from the city in front of them. Dean can see almost all the houses, the waterfalls, the trees. It’s like an ancient paradise, and the entire place must have been beautiful when it thrived. Full streets, life spreading around. Families must have been happy here, people realizing their dreams with no chance of war at their side.

As far as they thought, that is.

That’s when he notices the tree that stands out. In between all the shades of green, there’s one difference.

Blue.

“Sam, you got any idea if there’s a tree somewhere with blue leaves?”

“Not many, given that there isn’t really a blue pigment in plants,” Sam counters. “Despite that, there’s the Evergreen Blue Sprice, blue hostas, agaves, grasses… but in the end it’s not that the leaves are blue, more that they appear blue but are in fact still green-“

“Yeah yeah, so what are the chances that I’m looking right at a blue tree at this moment?”

Sam and Cas join him at the window, seeing the blue tree right where Dean is pointing at. It stands out, looking out of place in a way despite also appearing like it’s fitting it. Like the other trees are accepting it despite it oddness.

“I guess we have found our garden.”


	21. The Philosopher's Stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah yeah, Harry Potter did it first. I don't care. J.K. Rowling does not own the legend of the Philosopher stone! And neither do I. Have I mentioned before that this story is a work of fiction and that I do not own these characters at all? If not, I'm doing so now!  
> Crap, it's already past midnight. I should probably go to sleep. 
> 
> Chapter warnings in end notes, you know the drill by now.

They enter back into the city.

It’s a whole different sight now. Where at first the city looked mainly untouched by natural disaster, the first proof of life lost arrives deeper into the city. It’s not enough to indicate a massacre, but there are still a couple of remains resting in the street. People who died during the rainstorms. Probably from the cold, or falling debris.

It gives Dean the goosebumps, thinking about people running around here, thinking they were safe the entire time only to lose their lives because the Queen is no longer there to protect them. The disease spreading through the population, people dying because their own body is turning against them.

He can imagine the entire Herculaneum-scenario happening again. It makes him feel hollow, jittery. Like he wants to help these people, but knows it’s too late for them.

The deeper they get into the city, the more bodies appear. It nearly gets to a massacre-point in Dean’s eyes. There are the bodies of families. A woman holding her child. Their clothes, though mostly rotten away, are still somewhat present. Jewels are around wrists, and earrings dropped to the ground.

Dean thinks they’re in the center of the city when they get to some sort of tomb. It’s large, a white stone. The markings on it are beautiful. Without thinking about it, Dean passes his hand over it, taking in the etchings in the stone.

“That’s the grave of the King,” Cas says behind him. Dean immediately pulls his hand back.

“Shit, dude, why did they leave it out in the open like that?” he asks, appalled.

“I believe it made them feel like their king was still with them during these trying times.” Cas puts his own hand on the top of the stone coffin, closing his eyes. He looks sad, like he’s lost somebody he cares about.

They don’t linger for too long. Sam keeps on walking after a few minutes of silence, and Dean is ready to go with him. He takes Cas’ hand into his own and squeezes his fingers.

“Hey,” he starts, trying to get Cas’ attention. “I know this is all super messed up, but we’re still here, alright?”

Cas gives him a sad smile before pulling away his hand. “I just want to find Jimmy now.” He then follows after Sam without saying anything else. Dean sighs in defeat. He’s not entirely sure he likes the answer to this question he’s been asking himself all his life.

It’s a long trek to the garden, but when they eventually do get there they’re faced with the most beautiful sight Dean could have ever imagined.

It’s like a wide open field, though still covered by the large trees above it. There’s a small pond a bit to the side, and some kind of bench. In the grass there are flowers, every color Dean can imagine in them. But the only thing missing seems to be the birds. The wildlife. There’s nothing indicating life, despite the fact that this garden seems to remain well-tended.

Dean passes the trees to get into the garden. He can’t see the blue tree at all from where he’s standing and he wants to get a closer look, though when he takes the next step, a cold chill passes through him and there seems to be a quick white flash. He thinks he can even hear Cas call out his name somewhere behind him.

But suddenly the garden is that much brighter. There’s a fountain in the pond, the flowers less scattered around and more placed in a particular order. And the thing that stands out the most is the tree, which seriously wasn’t there before.

“Gotcha,” he says, making his way towards it until he suddenly hears the click of a gun.

“Hold it right there,” somebody says. When Dean turns around he finds Cas standing there with a gun pointed at him. Though, there’s something different. Those are not the clothes he was wearing, and his hair looks longer somehow? There’s a beard, too. His hands are covered with wounds from punching people.

“Cas, what’s going on?” Dean asks. Cas’ eyes widen, his mouth falling open.

“You know my brother?”

Okay, wait, what?

“Jimmy, stop! That’s my son!”

Okay, now Dean’s completely lost it. Because he could have sworn that there had been nobody in the garden at the first sight, right? And sure, the tree mysteriously appeared but Dean figures that’s just some more strange Angel mumbo jumbo.

Somebody grabs him, turning him around. When Dean gets faced with the familiar green eyes of his father his entire chest feels like it’s about to implode from happiness. Memories of his youth come crawling right back in his head, the times that they weren’t all just shouting at each other and instead enjoying their time together.

“Dad!” he calls out, throwing out his arms and wrapping them around his father. John chuckles, patting Dean on the shoulder while shaking his head. It feels exactly the same, being held like this. Dean only realizes now just how much he’s missed this.

“I’m so glad to see you, Dean,” John returns. Dean doesn’t want to pull back, but clearly John’s ready to ask some questions. “How long have we been gone? Did anybody follow you? Where’s Sam?”

“Sam’s here, so is Cas! They’re just-“ Dean turns to point to where he last saw his teammates, only to find that they’re no longer there. Dean frowns, jumping away from his father to get back to the place he came in through.

“Dean?” John asks behind him.

“I swear they were right here.” Dean feels another cold chill, and the white flash passes in his eyes once again. Then suddenly Sam is on him.

“Dean, what the hell! We’ve been looking for an hour!”

“C’mon, guys, I was right-“ but pointing towards the garden reveals that his dad and Jimmy have once again disappeared. “Oh seriously?”

Instead of explaining it to them, Dean grabs both Sam and Cas by the arm and pulls them into the garden. If only to prove a point, but also to check if his theory is right. And indeed, after passing what seems like some sort of barrier, the garden is once again shifted.

There’s a long moment of silence; Cas and Sam find themselves confused for what’s going on with Dean. John just looks at them proudly. It’s Jimmy who breaks the silence by suddenly shouting out his brother’s name.

“Cassie!”

Cas turns around, only to have his brother’s arms around him immediately afterwards. Dean smiles, glad that they’re having this reunion. Next to him, Sam gives his father a sheepish look.

“’s Good to see you, boy,” John greets him. Sam hesitates for a moment.

“You’re not still hating me?” he asks. John chuckles.

“I never hated you, Sam.” He walks towards him and offers him a hug. Once that Sam doesn’t seem to know what to do with, though he accepts it still. He gives Dean another confused glance, and Dean just shrugs. “Man, am I glad to see you two. I was afraid it would be a hundred years or so ‘till somebody found us.”

“What?”

After everybody’s moment of reunion has passed, everybody lets go of each other. John points towards the tree and Jimmy follows, marching to it.

“Time moves differently around here. It… stands still, so to say.” Jimmy shrugs. He gets closer to the tree, and somehow Dean wants to follow him, wants to get there too and have a good look at it.

“How long has it been for you?” Sam asks.

“Just a few hours, perhaps. It feels like we’ve only just arrived. We kind of formed this theory after finding the others.” Jimmy points to somewhere behind him. As if on cue, another figure appears, followed by two others.

Dean vaguely remembers their faces, but he can’t place them. They look like they’re from a completely different time. The first one is a man with a mustache. His clothes look sweated in and ragged, and the hat on the top of his head looks like it’s taken some hits. Next to him is a smaller boy, around Sam’s age again, also with a mustache though not as big as the other man’s. They look like family, perhaps father and son.

The man behind them looks much older. He’s got a long grey beard that reminds Dean of Gandalf, and he’s wearing robes. This man looks like he’s about ready to get out of here.

“Guys, these are Percy and Jack Fawcett, also known as the explorers who disappeared during the search for the lost City of Z.” John points towards the two first men. Percy remains unmoving, but Jack nods at them politely.

“Well, guess you found it,” Dean mutters. Fawcett takes a deep breath through his nose.

“Apparently so,” he responds with a heavy British accent. Right, Dean had forgotten that he came from England.

“And this guy here is the one and only Edward Kelley. He’s been here the longest, though for him it’s only been a few days.”

Kelley simply nods but doesn’t say anything. He looks like he’s pretty much ready to get out of this dump, though Dean’s not sure if he’s going to like what he finds outside.

Also, how insane is this? These people, characters from actual history, and they’re all stuck here? What the hell is going on?

“How come you haven’t tried to get out?” Sam directs his question to nobody in particular. Jimmy simply points to where they came from.

“We’ve tried. After the first hour we’ve all tried. But it’s like an invisible wall. We can’t get out.”

Dean looks at where he indeed thought he sensed some sort of barrier. But, he doesn’t get the big deal? He walked in and out without a problem, right?

Sam walks towards it, too, but where Dean had no trouble moving forward, Sam seems stuck. Like he’s playing mime or something, pressing his hands against an invisible wall. He knocks against it, but there’s no sound, no movement.

“Great,” he mutters.

“That’s bullshit,” Dean grunts, approaching his brother. He reaches to where his brother is stuck, and finds his hand passing without problem. “You’re all fucking with me, right?”

“Language certainly has gone a long way,” Kelley mutters from a bit behind.

Dean walks back into the forest, hearing the others call after him from behind. But once his step his made, their sounds have disappeared. Dean frowns, turning around and finding that, indeed, nobody’s standing there. It’s just a few seconds later until Cas comes falling through as well.

Dean catches him easily before he drops on the ground. The two look at each other in confusion before getting back up on their feet.

“I don’t understand,” Cas gets out.

“The tree?” Dean shrugs, not knowing any other explanation. Cas nods.

“Probably the tree,” he returns. Grabbing Dean’s hand, the two walk back inside the invisible field, finding that the others don’t even seem to have moved at all. They’re still finishing off their shouts towards them as the two are back in.

Cas then lets go of Dean’s hand, heading straight for the tree without paying further attention to the others. In silence, Jimmy follows him, probably eager to spend more time with his brother.

“How did you do that?” Jack Fawcett asks next to him. Dean startles, surprised by his sudden appearance.

“Uh, I just walked forward,” Dean shrugs.

“Amazing,” the boy returns. He takes out some sort of journal and starts writing stuff down. His father, Percy, looks at him fondly before moving aside. Dean, meanwhile, goes to his Dad. The man looks tired, like he’s been giving his all to this hunt and is about ready for a good few hours sleep.

“Did you guys figure anything else out here?” he tries, an attempt to find out what exactly it is that his Dad knows. He just needs to assess the situation, know just how much information he can give the guy at once.

“Nothing much, the entire place is written in Enochian. Even our good friend Kelley here couldn’t read all the texts.” John points towards the alchemist who has joined Jimmy and Cas at the tree. Dean’s eyes rest on Cas, seeing just from the stance in his shoulders how focused he is. And Jimmy looks the same. It’s insane how much the two look alike.

“Literally nothing?” Sam asks behind Dean.

“Well, we did find some stuff about an Angel falling in love with a human, and the two became their king and queen. I didn’t believe any of it, but after a few hours stuck behind an invisible forcefield, accompanied by people who should have been dead ages ago… well, one tends to change their point of view a little bit.”

Dean chuckles before he clears his throat. “You saw the portrait of the king? Demetrius?”

John’s eyes wide. “Demetrius? Looks like you two know more than we do.” John crosses his arms as an indication that he’s listening.

“Well, uh, it appears we’re their descendants,” Dean admits casually, shrugging it off like it’s not that big of a deal. “Probably all of us here.”

John turns to look at their company, frowning a bit when his eyes land on Kelley who looks extremely out of place with his robe and his stupid hat. Dean keeps himself from chuckling at the sight.

“And it’s maybe possible that I am a reincarnation from Demetrius,” Dean grits out, a bit hesitant to tell that part.

“Oh, and Cas is the reincarnation of Cassiel the Archangel!” Sam adds, not catching on to Dean’s caution about the subject. “They were lovers but when he died she cut out her Grace and their children planted it here somewhere so we think it’s the tree. And now Dean and Cas here are in fact them but then reincarnated like Dean said, and now there’s kind of something going on but it’s Dean so you know it’s vague as shit.”

Dean chuckles nervously. He loves his Dad, he really does, but John is often extremely unpredictable when it comes to his reactions. Sure, he’s probably not going to beat Dean up or anything, but it’s still the matter of fact that, well… Cas is a dude.

And sure, Dean’s never really made too big of a deal about it. He did whatever he wanted to do with whoever he wanted to do it with, but in the years he’s always acted with caution.

When John turns towards Cas there’s a long silence. Dean clenches his jaw, giving Sam a soft glare for bursting it all out like that. Sam just shrugs.

“He’s going to find out eventually,” he whispers towards him. Dean just rolls his eyes.

“Okay,” John then says.

“Okay?” Dean can’t help the surprised tone in his voice, getting a weird kind of hurt look from his Dad because of that.

“Yeah, of course okay! You’re my son and it’s none of my business who you’re with. As long as you’re happy and you treat them right, I’m not going to say anything about it.”

Dean lets out a soft breath, unable to hold back a smile. John, too, grins happily. He puts a hand on Dean’s shoulder and squeezes it gently. Then the two let go, having had enough chick flick moments to last a lifetime. Instead, they put their attention on Cas who has now kneeled down next to the tree and seems to be inspecting the roots.

“What you got, Cas?” Dean asks. Cas doesn’t look up.

“I feel like… like the tree is calling out for me,” he explains. He reaches out his hand, but doesn’t touch it. “Like there’s something in there that wants me to… I don’t know.”

Cas pulls his arm back, clearly hesitant on touching it. Dean pulls at Cas’ shoulder, getting him back on his feet. The doctor has his hands balled into fists, clearly at some sort of dilemma.

“What do you feel?” he asks. He’s aware of their proximity, aware of the others around him. He ignores it.

“I feel like the tree wants me to touch it,” Cas admits. He looks down at his hand before turning to Jimmy. The twin brother shrugs, obviously unaware of what Cas should do.

Dean takes Cas’ hand. With his thumb he gently caresses his knuckles without taking his eyes of the other man. With a small smile he tilts his head.

“Hey,” he tries, in an attempt to get Cas’ attention. “Does the tree feel friendly?”

Cas smiles, closing his eyes as if he’s trying to sense it. A loud sigh comes out of him, all tension leaving his shoulders. It’s as if he’s feeling… freed?

“It feels like home,” Cas answers at last. He leans out his hand to the side, though not fast enough for Dean to let go. Together, they press the palm of Cas’ hand against the bark of the tree. Cas lets out a gasp, wind suddenly blowing in his hair. Around them, there’s a sound Dean can’t place. He looks around, but he sees nothing different.

That is, until he sees movement in the woods. Movement he should have seen before, but couldn’t because of the forcefield. He lets go of Cas’ hand and moves closer towards the forest. He raises his gun, indicating for the others to do the same.

“I think I can feel the Grace,” Cas whispers out behind him. “It wants me to take it back.”

But Dean doesn’t answer. The movement seems to have stopped, but it’s possible that they’re just waiting for him to engage. How the hell did Jaune’s men even manage to get in? If it is them. There’s no way it could be some of the inhabitants of Enochia, right? Dean’s not ready to go against a zombie-army or something like that.

Everybody who has a gun has it raised. Sam is on his right, and John on his left. Behind him is Jimmy. Percy, too, got himself ready to aim. Jack and Kelley remain by Cas’ side.

“Guys, I need you all to guard this tree with everything you have,” Dean grunts out.

“What’s going on?” Cas asks behind him. Dean doesn’t turn around, but he knows Cas has retreated from the tree. He’s probably reaching out for his own weapon.

“We have some company.” Dean holds his gun up, waiting for some of the figures to re-emerge from where they’re hiding. He does nothing, though, when one person appears from the seemingly endless forest with another person by his side.

It’s Jaune. The other one is a woman with a bag over her head, her arms bound behind her. There’s blood at her neck. It’s insane, what’s the guy planning to do?

“My friends,” Jaune calls out as if he’s glad to see them. “I thought I lost y’all. I shouldn’t have doubted that you were just lookin’ ahead for me.”

There’s that nasty grin. Jaune pushes on the girl’s shoulder and she drops down to her knees. She makes no sound, doesn’t even seem to shake from fear. Who-ever she is, it’s almost as if she doesn’t even care anymore.

“How did you get in here?” Sam barks next to him, aiming his gun towards the man but all of them knowing it’s probably not going to take him down at all.

“Oh, you know, found myself some true legacy blood,” Jaune admits, kicking the girl in the back until she falls forward. Then he pulls at her hair, taking off the bag and throwing it aside.

Dean gasps, a small wave of aching and victory going through him. Because he recognizes her.

“Sophie?” But how can it be? He saw her getting shot in the head? He saw the blood, saw her lifeless body lying on the ground. There’s no way for her to still be walking around like this, even if she did survive the shot. She should have at least stayed in an hospital for weeks!

“Surprising, ain’t it?” Jaune asks, pulling some more at Sophie’s hair. The girl looks pissed off, ready to bite his face of, but since she’s bound there’s nothing much she can do. “Found it surprisin’, too, when my men were tryin’ to remove her body and she suddenly jumped up, smiting a few of them without even a single touch.”

He then pulls her face closer to his, grinning out a smile that’s all teeth.

“Luckily I got myself some good Nephilim-containment. I suppose it’s kind of fortunate heaven sees you guys as some sort of abomination.”

He pushes her forward once more until her face is dropping into the dirt. Dean has his hands balled into fists, the wave of protectiveness going strongly over him. He wants to shoot the bastard, gut him on the spot. Twist his neck until his lifeless body is the one on the ground.

He wants to call out for Sophie, wants to make sure that she’s fine. But there’s nothing he can do. Yet.

“How ‘bout it, Princess? Not happy to be back home, huh?” Jaune walks right by her, putting his hands into his pockets and taking a look around the place. When his eyes land on the tree, he points towards it. “I don’t suppose you guys don’t mind me taking that Grace along, do you?”

“Why do you even need that?” John snarls. Jaune looks shocked by the hostility.

“My, my, now, well, you see,” Jaune starts, stopping in his tracks when he sees Cas and Jack in front of the tree with their guns raised. “I don’t know if you guys entirely noticed but if we’re completely honest here I’m not exactly human.”

Jaune takes off his sunglasses, blinking once to then reveal the yellow color of his eyes. He grins, throwing the glasses aside.

“What are you?” Dean asks.

“I’m a demon, Dean-o. A pretty mighty one, that is. Kinda the opposite of angels, you know, the whole dark vs light bullcrap, yada yada.”

Jaune rolls his eyes while he makes a rotating movement with his hand.

“I’ve had my eyes on that Grace for a while now. And I suppose I must thank y’all for finally delivering it to me.”

Sophie sits back up, her eyes boring into Jaune’s retreating form. “He needs it to bring back his father,” she says. Jaune doesn’t react to her sudden words. He stares Cas down, like he’s hoping his yellow eyes will intimidate him anyway. Cas doesn’t move at all.

“Father?” Sam wonders out loud.

“Lucifer,” Sophie admits. “Because of the wardings against Demons and Angels he could never really find it. But your presence must have deactivated it.”

“Enough chatter. You know those weapons are all useless against me. I suggest y’all just step aside and let me take what’s mine.”

Dean realizes the guy’s right; they’re pretty much outmatched. Jaune’s men are still stationed around them, ready to aim. Bullets don’t make a dent into the guy so killing him is out of the picture. What in the world is powerful enough to take down a Demon?

“The Grace doesn’t belong to you,” Cas retorts defensively. A nasty laugh comes out of Azazel’s mouth, reminding Dean of all the horrible nightmares he’s been through. He closes his eyes and literally sees his mother burning to her death the moment the sound hits his ears. He clenches his jaw, lifting the gun towards Azazel’s head.

“What, and it does to you? You’re just a puny human now. Not even significant in the eyes of Heaven. They could have searched for you in all these years, but it seems like all they cared to destroy was every single thing you built, leaving you only with the realization that you’ve lost it all.”

Azazel suddenly lurches towards Cas, pushing him with his back against the tree, an arm pressing into his throat. Jack Fawcett is pushed aside until he drops on the ground. Kelley keeps his distance, clearly not at all interested in joining the fight. The guy probably never even touched a gun in his life.

Some sort of chain reaction happens once Azazel moves. Instantly, Dean throws himself his way, tackling Azazel to the ground. There he sits up, giving his fists free reign as he redecorates Azazel’s face with fresh new bruises.

After only a few seconds he’s already thrown off, but that’s when Sam moves. Aiming his gun, he empties his barrel into Azazel’s stomach, chest and head. All it does is make the demon take a step back before grinning widely. He backhands Sam so hard he goes flying.

And as Dean hurries after his brother, John has taken their place in the fight. Cas, meanwhile, has dropped on his knees with a hand on his throat while he tries to catch his breath.

Dean doesn’t look at the fight, instead first wanting to make sure that his brother is alright. Sam will probably have a massive bruise on his cheekbone to decorate that nasty cut, but it doesn’t look too bad. Behind him, John lets out a pained grunt before the noise of someone falling comes up. Dean turns around, finding his father on the ground. That’s when Percy Fawcett starts to move, using his military training to defend himself.

Obviously, it’s a lost cause. Hand-on-hand combat seems to be the least effective way for self-defense. But it’s the only thing they can do right now. There’s no way Dean’s going to give in without a fight. After making sure that Sam’s okay Dean jumps back on his feet, getting himself on Jaune’s back and wrapping his legs over his middle, his hands grabbing Jaune’s head and pulling it backwards. Jaune, in turn, seems to shortly lose his footing, giving Fawcett the chance to kick him in the legs and making the guy drop down. Dean jumps off, rolling once he hits the ground.

Dean’s eyes fall on Cas for a moment. He’s back on his feet, an extremely pissed off from the looks of it. Fawcett’s son, Jack, joins in on the fight, too.

Bruises are made, blood spilling from cuts or other wounds formed by nothing more than Azazel’s fists. So far, none of his men seem to meddle with it, so Dean’s not too confident about their outcomes here. He’s mostly just hoping they’ll eventually get to any kind of weapon that might take him down.

Dean’s out of breath in only a matter of minutes. He’s been kicked in the side more often than not, and he’s pretty sure he bruised a rib. The cut on his hand is by now the least of his concern, despite the fact that it’s still bleeding heavily.

Through the action, it seems like Sam is the first one to think about getting to Sophie, who is still struggling on the ground to get out of whatever cuffs are holding her captive. She’s speaking to Sam, softly enough for Dean to miss her words. He doesn’t worry about it since there’s bigger things going on here. John and Jack are once more having their turn, with Jimmy going for the surprise shot through Azazel’s head. It’s no use, obviously, but at least it slows him down.

Dean’s at the verge of resuming the attack there’s the sound of a gun. A ringing in Dean’s head, a sting in his chest. Where he’d been stepping forward he’s now standing still, mouth dropped open and arms hanging next to his body.

Who’s been shot? He can’t see it? Nobody’s stepping back, nobody’s bleeding. Azazel’s holding a gun but that’s about it. Wait, who is he even aiming at?

“Dean!”

Oh, it’s him. Looking down, Dean finds the red stain he’d been searching for. The gun lowers, no longer aiming at Dean but instead pointing to the ground. Dean huffs out a breath, even managing a chuckle before he drops down on his knees.

Somebody’s on him, keeping him from falling. Only vaguely he can see Cas’ familiar blue eyes, though right when he’s about to blink he always sees Cassia for a short moment. They’re almost exactly the same. Beautiful. Honest.

Afraid.

“No, no, no, Dean, stay with me,” he hears. He feels himself being dragged to the side until he sees the tree above him. Cas keeps holding on to him. The sounds in the background mean that they’re still trying to hold Azazel back.

They’re going strong. Dean’s surprised. John even lets out an angry growl. There’s footsteps nearing until Sam’s face comes into his point of view as well.

“Oh my God, Dean!”

Dean closes his eyes for a bit, feeling something itching in his throat. He starts coughing, not really too surprised when he tastes the blood in his mouth. It goes past his lips, rolling down to his chin.

Oh, shit, that can’t mean anything good. Probably a punctured lung. He can’t tell where he’s hit. He can barely even feel it. All he can do is hold up his hand and reach for Cas’ worried face. His other hand goes for Sam’s arm, needing to hold on to him as well.

Cas leans into his touch. He’s crying, his eyes red and tears rolling over his cheeks.

“This sucks,” Dean sputters out. The two laugh sadly at Dean’s words.

“That’s putting it pretty lightly, Dean,” Sam returns. Dean manages a chuckle, too, but once his chest starts shaking he feels a pain at last. He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to take a breath but unable to.

To be fair, he doesn’t know what to say. He could tell Sam that he’s sorry he dragged him into this. Could tell Cas that he… well, he’s not sure what he could tell Cas. Sure, there are things he wants to say, things he’s probably said long ago in a past life. But things that feel too fast to say now.

Dean’s not good at goodbyes. He often avoids them just because they suck. But now that he’s the one they’ll have to say goodbye to he should probably not leave things unsaid.

It’s easier said than done. Right when he’s about to say something he gets himself into another coughing fit. There’s no more air that seems to fill his lungs, and he ends up choking on his blood instead. He panics, feeling himself die on the spot. He wants to ask for help, wants to shake the others to warn them. But they know. And he knows they know that there’s nothing they can do.

He can hear Sam sobbing out his name. Can hear Cas muttering soft a soft ‘no’. Can hear the others losing against Azazel.

The last things he sees is a bright white light before warmth spreads all over him. And after that, it stops hurting. It’s over.

Now he can rest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:  
> \- Major character probable death at the end of chapter  
> \- Improbable things happening. Like seriously, the idea sounded so cool when I first came up with it, but once I was writing it I was like 'wait how do I make this happen? without it looking like some cheap storyline. WHich in the end it did look like. I apologize.


	22. By the Grace of the Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings in the end notes

Dean’s been hungover a lot. That’s often what happens when you drink more than the recommended amount. It’s often with a strong headache and the feeling that anything he’ll try to eat or drink will come right back out afterwards.

It feels pretty much the same way. Dean groans, turning to his side and feeling like his entire body is stiff. He can’t even manage to open his eyes, though he presses his hands against his ears to mute out the sound.

Jesus, can’t people just sleep for a moment? What’s with all the noise?

He tries to think back of the night before. Nothing much comes into his mind, meaning that he must have been _extremely_ drunk. He scrapes his throat, scratching his cheek. When he feels the ground shake he realizes somebody must have entered his room.

Wait, what? His room? He doesn’t have a room? Or at least a room that allows somebody else to get in?

Holy shit, he’s so fucking disoriented.

He dares to open his eyes at last. One look above indicates that he’s outside. There are trees right in front of him, a blue sky right behind it. When he turns his head to the side he finds that somebody’s next to him.

“Who the fuck are you?” Dean mutters out. The man, a guy with a long beard, frowns down at him.

“I thought we’d already met,” the man returns with a strong British accent. He wears a stupid hat and robes that look like they’ve been out of style a couple hundred years ago.

Dean tries to sit up, noticing that he’s in some sort of literal battlefield. His eyes widen in surprise when he sees his Dad and Sam, along with four others. The names get into his mind slowly. Jimmy’s the one with the blue shirt and the holsters bound around his middle. The one currently busy shooting Azazel’s men right in the face.

Next to him stands Percy Fawcett who’s grabbing one of the men’s gun out of their hands and shoots them straight in the chest. His son Jack moves in similar motions, though a bit more stiffly. He’s younger, inexperienced, it seems.

There’s a girl fighting along, but she’s moving differently. She isn’t holding a weapon, instead just swinging her hands around and making the men drop down on the ground. She’s like some sort of superhero, his mind tells him. Sofia.

And the man next to him, Edward Kelley. The inventor of the Enochian language. From the 1500’s. Shit, his brain can’t really catch up right now.

“Where’s Cas?” he asks. He rubs his forehead while trying to get up. Kelley doesn’t answer, so Dean turns towards him. Once he’s back on his feet Kelley stands up as well. He awkwardly takes one of the guns from the ground and prepares himself for using it.

He’s obviously not answering him.

Shit, that can’t be good. Dean turns back around, looking through the chaos. He knows now not to mistake Jimmy for Cas, but he still can’t find him. Can’t find that beige color of his jacket. That wild mop of hair. Those peaceful blue eyes.

“Seriously, where’s Cas?”

“I’m sorry?” Kelley feigns not knowing. Dean reacts immediately, grabbing him by the arms and almost shaking him around the place.

“CASTIEL!” he shouts. “Brown hair, blue eyes, kind of the love of my past life and probably even this one as well?!”

Kelley looks down awkwardly. “He disappeared,” he then admits.

“Disappeared?! How the hell did he disappear?”

Dean can’t help his raised voice. Can’t help the panic coursing through him. He needs to know where Cas is. Needs to know he’s alright.

“After you lost consciousness he reclaimed his Grace to bring you back. Only it consumed him and he disappeared into a bright white light.”

Dean’s mouth goes dry, his heart skipping a beat on the spot. There’s an ache in his chest that Dean only realize is his need for air when he gasps for breath. He puts a hand on his chest, leaning forward while he tries to process the news.

“Cas brought me back?” he wheezes out. Kelley holds on to his shoulders to keep him from falling down.

“It was the last thing he did,” he confirms. It takes Dean a couple of seconds for that to sink in. When he looks back into the battle he sees his friends, his family, all standing against Jaune’s men. But Jaune is nowhere to be found.

They all fight bravely for their lives, but one glance backwards from Sam makes it clear that they need to get out of here.

“He’s up, let’s move!” he shouts and the others agree, following him into the woods. Dean sees Kelley run to the trees as well, but he doesn’t move. He looks down at his hands; they’re free of his blood. Clean, the cut gone, too. Did Cas heal that as well?

He turns towards the large tree, but it doesn’t seem so alive anymore. The leaves are no more blue but grey. Branches are falling off from it. As if its life source has been drained completely.

And that’s when he hears it. It’s like… somebody crying. A child. And it’s coming from the tree. Dean is aware that Jaune’s men are still surrounding him. He doesn’t care, he moves towards the tree. The sound becomes louder and more needy. Up to the point where he’s standing right in front of it.

Where the tree had been whole at first, now there seems to be a hole in the bark. Dean frowns, unsure of what this is supposed to mean. He doesn’t think further, instead just puts his hands inside the hole only to find something squirming underneath his fingers.

Carefully he pulls it out. What he finds takes his breath away. His mouth drops open, eyes widening. In his hands, he’s holding a new born baby.

And he’s no longer crying. Its dark eyes look up to Dean, not letting go of him. As if he can see him, which shouldn’t be possible for a kid his age.

“What the hell?” he asks to himself. The child kicks his tiny little legs, waving his hands around while letting a gurgled laugh. When Dean pulls the kid closer, the baby puts his tiny fingers against his cheek.

Something melts inside of Dean. It doesn’t completely erase this intense pain at knowing Cas is gone, but it fills up some part of the hole inside. He holds the child closer, hugging him against his chest. Like that’s where he belongs.

 _My son_.

His eyes widen again and he jumps back, pulling the kid away once more. The baby makes an annoyed sound at that.

Holy shit, did that just happen? Did he just find a random baby in a tree and did his subconscious already tell him that this kid is his? Jesus, he’s seriously messed up!

“Dean, what the hell?!”

That’s Sam. Dean turns to his direction, finding him running back to him. That’s when he notices that Jaune’s men are no longer coming his way. They’re all lying on the ground, either dead or unconscious. Whichever one it is, Dean doesn’t even care anymore.

“Sammy!” he calls out. When Sam has reached him he looks down at the kid with a confused look.

“How the hell did you find a kid here?” he asks like he’s so very done with this place. Dean chuckles, giving the kid his finger and letting him hold on to it.

“Beats me. One moment he was just there in the tree,” Dean returns. Looking into the baby’s dark eyes, something inside him stirs. A voice, his own voice. Telling him something.

 _Iakobo_.

“Mother never got to name him.”

The two brothers startle as a somewhat familiar voice comes up behind him. Much to Dean’s surprise, it’s that kid from Italy, from the temple. Athan.

Only, wait, where’s that Italian accent?

“I sensed a shift. Castiel has taken back our mother’s Grace, hasn’t he?” Athan walks towards them, reaching for the child. Without thinking too much about it, Dean hands him over. The way Athan holds on to him makes it obvious that he cares an awful lot about him.

His brother, Dean figures. Holy shit.

Dean nods, swallowing past this hard lump in his throat.

“Then Heaven will find us eventually, too,” Athan adds sadly. He gives Dean the baby back. “Hold him close, he will repel any demon trying to get close you, though I’m afraid they’re going to be the least of your worries now.” Athan points towards the bodies scattered around on the ground.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Sam interjects, clearly having had enough of it. “This needs to stop for just a moment, okay? Who are you? How did you just get here?”

Athan gives him a serious look, all of that youthful innocence he’d been showing back in Italy now gone. It’s like he’s a completely different person now. A person who had to be a leader during hard times.

“I flew here,” Athan answers. “My name is Athanasius Enoch, I am the son of Cassiel and Demetrius Enoch, and with that former king of Enochia.”

There’s such a sadness in his voice. Dean hates hearing it.

“And what part do we play in this?” Sam asks, clearly annoyed.

“My parents were reborn in you and Castiel. They’ve been reborn multiple times throughout the years, but never had the chance of meeting. Or never remaining together long enough to re-establish the bond.”

“If Cas and I were…” Dean takes a deep breath. He can’t show weakness, can’t show just how much it hurts him to already talk about Cas in the past tense. “If we were Demetrius and Cassia once, then why did I hate his guts at first?”

Athan smirks. “Your soul remained unchanged, but my mother’s Grace had to be shifted into one. Whenever you two came close to each other, your soul would react badly to something that was so similar to her Grace, but just wasn’t the same. It was your soul thinking it was being tricked all this time.”

That makes enough sense. Dean shrugs, turning to his brother who clearly has had enough of it all.

“And Sammy? What’s his part in this?”

“Every past version of you always had their sibling. Whether they were a sister, or a brother… There’s always meant to be somebody by your side, guiding you in the right direction.”

And shit, it’s kind of true, isn’t it? Wasn’t it Sam who insisted on getting Cas’ help? Sam who insisted Cas to come along? Sam who made sure he wasn’t too much of an asshole for the long haul?

If Dean didn’t feel like a puppet before, he feels it now for sure. But he can’t even be angry at it. Looking down at the baby in his arms, he can’t even remember to be angry about anything.

“Do you remember his name?”

Dean looks up in surprise. Athan is talking to him, it seems.

“I’m sorry?” he asks.

“Our mother never named him, because she wanted my father to name him. But he passed away before he got born.”

So, that’s what this voice inside of Dean’s mind is trying to tell him, right? He holds out his hand towards the kid again, letting him grab his fingers.

“Iakobo,” Dean answers, then.

Athan smiles then, at last. He moves forward, gently kissing Iakobo on his forehead before he sighs. Then he turns to Sam and Dean, handing them both some shiny silver blades.

“These weapons might help you. They’re Angel Blades, the only thing capable of killing an Angel, though they can also take down demons. I’ll help Sofia ward off the Angels. You two should try and get away from this island.”

Athan disappears after that. Dean and Sam are remaining there, standing with their mouths fallen open in surprise. It doesn’t last for too long, though, until Sam is pulling on his arm.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here. I’ve had enough of this place.”

Dean can’t disagree with that. He ties the blade on his belt and follows his brother into the forest, in the direction where the others were. He tries not to run too fast because of Iakobo, but it doesn’t seem to bother the kid anyway. As long as he’s snuggled up against Dean, he’s quiet.

It takes a little while until they get to a dead end, the only way for them to go being upwards. Dean grunts in annoyance, realizing there isn’t much for him to do here. He hands Iakobo to Sam and shrugs off his coat before tying it around him.

“What are you doing?” Sam asks in confusion. Dean shrugs.

“Improvising,” he says. After getting something together that looks sturdy enough to hold a newborn child, he lets Sam put Iakobo against his back. After that, he tightens the sleeves around him, tugs a bit on it to make sure that it isn’t loose. Once he’s satisfied with the result, he gestures for that he’ll go first. “If you see this shit loosening up behind me, you warn me, ‘kay?”

Sam nods, though they both know that once they’re climbing down there’s no way for Dean to just tighten the knots. With any luck, there are some platforms for him to stand on in between climbing, but knowing their streak right now it’s not going to be that case.

While Sam waits for him to move, Dean lets out a soft breath, shaking his hands while turning his head backwards. He knows the kid can’t understand him, but it helps calm himself down at least.

“’kay, Jack,” he then says, already shortening the kid’s name. After all, Iakobo is quite the long name. “We’re gonna get this done, alright?”

Dean moves forward, lifting his hands and holding on to the edge of the cliff. A quick glance down shows that Sam’s following right behind him, though clearly waiting for him to get up. He searches for a nearby ledge to hold on to, keeping his feet positioned on parts of rocks sticking out of the cliff.

Normally Dean doesn’t think too much of this, could probably do it with his eyes closed. Now, for the obvious reasons, he’s extra worried.

Once they’re halfway through, Sam points towards a large enough place in the cliff for them to stand on for a bit. Dean doesn’t hesitate, taking the detour that way just to catch his breath. Once they’re both standing again, he turns his back to his brother.

“Is he okay?” he asks. Sam takes a quick look before chuckling.

“He’s asleep,” he returns. Dean turns back around and laughs along. “Shit, man, you realize this kid is kind of your son, right?”

“Dude, don’t even mention it.” Dean holds up his hand to shut him up. “I don’t think my brain is able to catch up, so much shit has happened…”

After that, Dean rubs his forehead, his mind wandering back to Cas. It hurts to think about it, but at the same time it’s like his entire being just doesn’t believe it. Doesn’t want to face the truth; that Cas is actually dead.

“Hey, man, I’m, uh… I’m sorry about Cas…”

It’s like Sam can read his mind, somehow, though it should be obvious who it is Dean is thinking about.

Dean just clears his throat. “I can’t really… believe it,” he says. Then he looks back at his brother, trying to look determined. “It’s like, I didn’t actually see him die so he must still be alive, right? That’s what my stupid heart seems to think at least….”

“Dean, I know how you feel… I know you’re just denying it because it hurts, but-“

“I know, Sammy. Okay? I know”

Sam looks sad. Sad for him. Clearly worried about his wellbeing.  

“You really cared about him, huh?” his little brother asks. Sam must be worried sick as well. He knows as well as anyone what it’s like to lose somebody he loves. The only difference here is… At least Jess is still alive. For now. Shit, aren’t their lives pretty fucked up?  

His hand goes up to his left shoulder, going underneath the sleeve of his shirt. There he passes his finger over the brand, feeling it on his skin. It’s warm, almost like it’s sending vibrations to Dean’s hand, showing that it’s alive.

“In a way I can’t even put into words,” he answers lowly. Then he clears his throat, wiping off two stray tears that dared to appear.

They continue on the climb down. It takes a bit longer because this time it’s a larger distance, but eventually they’re back on the ground. Looking up he wonders just how in the world they ever got so high? He can’t really remember going up like that on their way to the garden.

They’re close to the city again, at the outskirts where a few abandoned houses stand. There’s still the occasional body on the ground, just skeletal remains of the people that never got the burial they deserved. Dean hates seeing it like this.

“The others are at the palace,” Sam says. “Sophie said it’s the safest place for us to be right now.”

“How come?” Dean wonders.

“Something about wardings against Angels and Demons, though while she explained this I kinda went back to get you.” Sam shrugs, sounding a bit breathless. Dean feels the same way, putting his hands on his hips and trying to get some air back into his lungs. Meanwhile, Jack is still safely tied against his back, still sleeping after a quick confirmation from Sammy.

They don’t stay for too long, getting into a gentle jog to hurry back to the palace. The city remains empty, though Dean’s pretty sure Jack’s got something to do with that. Surely, Jaune’s men should be crawling all over the place right now.

“It’s quiet,” Sam eventually points out. The palace is getting in view, but it’s still quite a walk away. “While you were out we went up against those demons… they’re kinda like Jaune, impossible to kill…”

“And you held your ground? I’m rather impressed, man.”

Sam shrugs. “Well, we were all kind of angry… I kinda saw you die right in my arms. Dad went nuts, headshotted at least a couple of his men after slamming another knife into his chest. It didn’t kill them, but it sure as hell slowed them down enough to do the same thing to the others.”

Dean can perfectly imagine it.

“But why did Jaune’s men from earlier never survive?” he wonders out loud. Sam just shrugs.

“Who knows, maybe they weren’t demons yet? I’m pretty sure one of the guys I went up against was one I already took down yesterday when we found Cas. Maybe he got possessed or something.”

Dean doesn’t respond. He’s got no answer, so why bother trying to make one up. He passes his eyes over the space around him, finding nothing but buildings around him. Though, despite that…

He’s sure he saw something move.

Sam starts walking, but before he can even make one step Dean grabs his shoulder, pulling him back behind the wall.

“Get cover!” he hisses towards him. Sam startles. His eyes are wide, his face questioning. Dean gently leans forward to get a look. Much to his delight he finds that they haven’t been seen. At least they have that in their favor.

“They’re probably circling around the palace,” Sam whispers. Dean figures he might be right; if they can’t get in but know that they’re there, there isn’t much they can do other than wait them out. They’re all sitting ducks in there.

“I guess it’s time to try these things,” Dean says, taking the blade Athan gave him and giving it a good look. It seems simple, nothing much on it. It’s silver, though without a symbol on it or anything. Just plain.

It’s another stealth-mission ahead for them. They don’t have any guns, and their only way of attack is by close range. Once they’re discovered, there isn’t much they can do. Dean gives Sam a short look to find if he’s ready. When Sam nods, the two, with Jack still safely tucked against Dean’s back, run towards the demons.

It’s like they’re everywhere. Each time Dean looks up from his cover, it’s as if another one has joined the one he had his eyes on. Just how many demons did Azazel bring with him?

Once he’s got one of them cornered, he prepares himself. He holds the blade in his hands, waiting for the right opportunity. Then right when he passes the corner, Dean grabs him by the jacket and pulls him into his cover, slamming the weapon into the demon’s gut. The bastard lets out a soundless cry, seemingly burning up from the inside. After that he drops down, eyes closed and chest still. When he tries to look for a pulse, there isn’t one.

“Mine’s dead,” Sam whispers behind him, startling Dean on the sport. He nearly falls forward, slapping him on the arm.

“You fucking bitch, don’t startle a guy with a weapon!” he counters. Sam rolls his eyes before nodding towards the body next to them.

“I stabbed it in the gut as well, but the body still died. I think it’s because the host got hurt during the gunfight,” Sam deduces. Dean can find the theory logic. He nods before gesturing that they need to keep moving.

He feels something on his back. The kid is shifting, probably waking up. Shit, they really don’t need that right now.

Unless… Jack _did_ take down the remaining half of Azazel’s army without Dean and Sam even noticing it. He could help them out, perhaps.

Jack remains asleep, though. Dean doesn’t wait for him to wake up. He continues, moving his way towards the palace without being noticed. It goes well. Probably too well. Dean realizes he’s become paranoid about these types of things due to his experiences in the past. Every moment now a demon could pass around the corner and notice him.

The palace is getting closer. Dean can see the entrance not too far from where he’s standing. There’s a couple of demons there, but Dean doesn’t intend on going through the front door. As if he’s moving on automatic pilot, Dean turns right instead of left.

“Dean, what are you doing?” Sam hisses his way.

“Finding another way in,” he returns. He’s not too sure how he knows where to go, but he’s pretty far from questioning it right now. To be fair, all he wants to do is grab everybody and get the fuck out of here.

And then maybe once he’s alone again he’ll get the opportunity to grieve, much like his entire body begs for him to do. He pushes the thought away again. There’s no time. No time, no time. Dean has his eyes squeezed the entire time, breath speeding up.

Shit, he needs to get his act together or-

A loud shriek fills the air. A child crying. Right behind Dean, Jack has awakened.

“Shit…” Dean shrugs off the improvised carrier and takes Jack back into his arms. Gently he tries to shush him, but he knows it’s not much use. They’re discovered, and soon the Demons will be heading their way.

“Dean, make him stop!” Sam insists.

“I’m trying,” Dean counters. He rocks the baby, tells him soft, gentle words. Even when he gives him his finger for Jack to hold, the baby doesn’t stop.

“My, my, I suppose I should be honored that you’ve decided to grace me with your presence?”

Dean swallows past a hard lump in his throat. That voice he recognizes. It brings him shivers all over his body. When he turns he finds Azazel standing a good distance away from them, probably not wanting to get closer to Jack.

“Quite a lovely thing there. Is he yours?”

Dean’s first instinct is to hide Jack away from Azazel’s eyes. Pressing the baby closer to his chest, Sam comes to stand in front of him, as if shielding them from view.

“You can’t get to us,” Sam warns him. “Come too close and snap.”

Sam snaps his hand to accentuate his point. Azazel gives him a pensive look before sighing in agreement.

“I’m afraid you’re right. We’re not exactly a match against a Nephilim.” He climbs up on a wall, standing until he’s way higher than them, looking down with a menacing look in his eyes. “Too bad for you, I know how to deal with a halfbreed.”

As if from nowhere, Azazel pulls out some sort of gun. Pointing it in Dean’s direction, he doesn’t hesitate to shoot through Sam to get to his target.

It’s all happening in slow motion, it seems. Dean sees Azazel firing his gun – and yeah, the asshole was seriously about to shoot down a baby?! Sam turns around to look at Dean, his curls twirling with the movement, though sticking to his head the moment they touch.

Jack is still crying, though louder than before. He’s obviously in distress, scared about something. Moving so hard that he almost falls out of Dean’s arms.

There isn’t much time. Dean realizes that. He holds Jack close against him despite his panicked shifting. Then, realizing that there isn’t much left for them to do, Dean closes his eyes. And he waits.

He feels a strong heat. As if the sun is shining directly on his face. A loud noise fills his ears and Dean drops down on his knees, knowing it hurts but unable to protect his ears without letting go of the kid.

Is Sam still there? Is he alright? Did he jump out of the way before the bullet hit him? Did the bullet hit him? Dean didn’t feel it. Shit, does that mean that-

Dean opens his eyes, looking down at Jack. The baby is still fussing in his arms, loud wails still escaping from his mouth. But he looks alright.

They all look alright. Sam looks at him in confusion, not understanding what exactly happened. Dean agrees with that sentiment. He glances upwards, trying to find where Azazel was standing.

A soft chuckle, along with a strong warm feeling passes through him when he sees Cas standing there. He’s got his hand pressed on Azazel’s forehead, and the Demon is shaking as he’s being burned out of its body.

Cas is floating, it seems. And glowing. He looks pissed off. His eyes are shining blue, and there’s like some sort of aura above him. Is Dean imagining it, or did he just see the shadow of wings.

Does it matter? Because he’s there. Cas is standing there, and he just burned Azazel up from the inside. With his freaking bare hands?! He’s fucking amazing.

Azazel drops down on the ground. But before he returns to them Cas diverts his attention to the other demons nearby. He flies up close to them, and as they all valiantly try their last effort to stop him Cas just stands there.

“Look away,” he warns them with a low voice, though still very audible for them much to Dean’s surprise. Dean listens without hesitation, pulling his brother closer and the two huddle together, blocking the view for Jack as well.

Then there’s only light.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:  
> \- a wild Jack suddenly appears


	23. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings in end notes

Death doesn’t always mean goodbye. It’s a weird way of thinking about it, but Dean always thought it was a nice way of saying that people, souls, would find each other again. Sure, he never believed in all that Heaven-crap and figured that what’s dead should stay dead, but if he’s honest his entire world has been turned upside down in this past month.

Two people he thought had died have now returned. Dean’s not about to complain about it. In contrary, it’s about enough to make him question his entire life. Wasn’t he the one giving Cas shit about his beliefs in Angels and God? And isn’t Dean just now standing right in front of an actual Archangel, while holding said archangel’s offspring in his arms?

Well, it’s not exactly Cas’ offspring, but Cassia’s. And Cassia’s Grace is currently in Cas, which… shit, he’s breaking his own brain again.

Cas has dropped back to the ground. His clothes look whole again, any wound he might have had now completely healed. He looks healthier than ever, though his gaze is averted down to the ground. And he’s not moving. Not even breathing. It’s like he’s a statue.

“Cas,” he whispers out, still holding Jack close against his chest. The kid has by now stopped crying, probably because he was suddenly surrounded by Cas’ energy. He even seem to try to reach out for him, holding up his little arms and his hands making grabby-motions in Cas’ direction.

Upon hearing his name, Cas turns. The way he moves is so unnatural it almost startles Dean. Like he’s a robot, moving in such straight lines without any kinks or interruptions.

“Hello, Dean, Sam,” he says in return. He doesn’t smile, but Dean can see it in his eyes. Can see just how many emotions there are stuck behind them. Cas’ hand goes up to his face, touching his own mouth as if he, too, seems to realize there’s a lack of anything there. “I’m feeling particularly disconnected with my body for some reason.”

Sam chuckles next to Dean. “You kinda took down an entire army of demons by yourself, so I suppose you’re allowed to not smile for a while.”

Dean agrees, but Cas shakes his head.

“It is… an extremely odd experience I’m having.” He looks up to his hands before lowering them again, eyes falling on the child in Dean’s arms. “Is that our son?”

Dean frowns, wondering why Cas would call Jack ‘their’ son since he’s Cassia’s and Demetrius’. But he can understand the confusion, perhaps.

“Yeah, uh, Iakobo,” Dean introduces him. He takes a few steps forward until Cas is close enough to the little one’s hands. “Jack for short.”

Cas lips curl upwards at last, though it’s only faint. He reaches his hands out towards the child and takes him out of Dean’s arms. He then looks at him fondly, checking him over for any injuries. Jack seems to enjoy being lifted by him.

“Jack,” Cas tries out the name. “I find it a pleasing name.”

Okay, Cas spoke weird before but now he’s acting stranger than Dean remembers. He must really be feeling out of it. Dean sighs, figuring that’s just a worry for later. At least he’s back. He’s not dead.

Shit. Cas is not dead. Dean can’t even express just how relieved he’s feeling. It’s as if the load that’s been on his shoulders was so heavy that even when it came off, it still hurts.

Okay he just needs a reminder. Some sort of proof. Just something that will convince his body that it’s true. That Cas really is back. So while Cas is looking down lovingly at Jack, Dean takes a step forward. He reaches out a hand, putting it behind Cas’ back. The other man raises his head in surprise, but before he can even gets out a question Dean has already pulled him closer.

His other hand is behind Cas’ head, and without a warning he claims his mouth into a strong kiss.

He can hear Sam groan in frustration behind him. He doesn’t care. All that matters now is this, this little moment. His fingers pass through Cas’ hair, his lips passing over Cas’ while he waits for Cas to return it.

But he doesn’t. And that’s what makes Dean pull away in confusion.

“Cas, are you okay?” Dean asks, worried. Sure, Cas has been acting a bit weird since he returned, but now he’s just like some sort of statue.

“I am currently fine, Dean. I find myself pleased to be in your presence again,” he says, though he doesn’t exactly sound like he means that. He sounds… dry. Like a robot. It makes Dean pull away, a frown fresh on his forehead.

“Well you don’t fucking look like it,” Dean counters a bit angrily. And then, just in a flash second, Dean sees it in Cas’ eyes. Hurt. Sadness. Anguish. It’s not something nice to see in the eyes of somebody he cares about. But right when he notices it it’s disappeared again, and Cas’ eyes are once again pointed downward to the child in his arms.

“We should get inside,” he says, obviously avoiding the subject. Dean rolls his eyes, turning towards Sam and finding him simply shrugging when he tries to get anything from him. Of course, what was he thinking? How would Sam know what’s going on?

Then in just a flash he’s no longer standing outside. Gasps of surprise come up around them, and pretty quickly Dean realizes that they’re no longer standing outside.

“What the-?” he wonders out loud. Around him are his Dad, Jimmy, and even the Fawcetts and Kelley. Athan and Sophie are nowhere to be found, though Dean figures they’re doing what they said they were doing. Whatever that was. Dean doesn’t even remember.

“What the hell is going out there?! We heard screams and this strange loud ringing?” Jack Fawcett asks. Behind Dean, he hears Jimmy call out his brother’s name. Then the treasure hunter wraps his arms around Cas’ in a strong hug, only to find that Cas doesn’t respond. Instead waiting for him to let go. Once Jimmy does, Cas hands Jack back to Dean before walking away from the group.

“Cassie?” Jimmy asks. Cas stops in his steps for a short second before he lowers his head and continues moving. When Jimmy moves to run after him, Dean grabs him by the sleeve. He’s never really spoken to Cas’ twin brother before, but he knows the guy is worried.

“Don’t. He’s not really himself right now,” Dean warns him. Jimmy gives him a worried glance, obviously not at all happy with that reveal. “Anyway, Cas got his juice back, and now we’re on Heaven’s shit list. We need to scram, like, yesterday.”

“Heaven? You mean like the Angels?” Kelley asks. Dean nods, seeing Cas moving further away from them. He knows that what’s happening to him is all due to him taking Cassiel’s Grace back. It must have messed him up somehow. Dean hates it. Hates that _he’s_ the reason Cas is like this.

Dean then calls for Sam, gesturing for him to take Jack for a moment. Sam does so without hesitation. Jack makes a soft fussy sound, but otherwise doesn’t make too much of a scene, instead staring at Sam with wide eyes and a mouth fallen open.

Then, Dean nods towards the others. They need to make a plan, need to find out how they’ll get out of here. But they need Cas for that. He’s their biggest gun, even though it feels horrible to think that way. If they need Cas, Cas needs to be with them.

Dean catches up to him. From outside he can hear a storm coming up. Wind howling around the palace, sounds like screams are coming from the entire place. It had been beautiful out before, but Dean can bet his left shoe on it that the Angels have something to do with it.

“Cas,” Dean starts. When he’s finally approached him, he finds that the guy is muttering some words with a low voice. It sounds… Enochian? As far as Dean can remember the language, that is.

Cas doesn’t respond to Dean. He holds up his hands, some symbols on the walls lighting up around them. The entire room seems to have them on the walls, but also on the floor and the ceiling. The light grows stronger until it dies down again, along with Cas’ words.

He sees the man hunch forward, as if he’s suddenly exhausted. Before he can fall over, Dean grabs him, pulling him close. As if on instinct, Cas hold on to his arms, a soft sob escaping from him. He turns his head until his face is hidden in Dean’s neck. There, they stand for a short bit, unable to say anything. The storm outside is getting stronger. Behind, he’s aware the others are getting impatient.

“Cas, what’s wrong?” Dean asks. He lets Cas turn around, lets the other man cling to him like he’s afraid Dean’s going to disappear. It hurts to see him like this, but it kind of feels like it came out of nowhere. What could possibly have happened in the time that he’s been gone?

“I’ve caused so much damage. I got so many people hurt…” He sounds so desperate, so… ashamed… “You died, and I was selfish. I didn’t think about all the people around me who needed me.”

“Cas, what the hell are you talking about?”

Cas shakes his head against Dean’s chest, which is getting wet from the now-Angel’s tears.

“Athanasius, Sofia, Iakobo… they deserved a mother, and I just disappeared on them when they needed me most.”

Dean thinks he’s imagining the shaking at first, but when he hears some surprised gasps from behind them he realizes that the palace is indeed rumbling. And Dean’s pretty sure that Cas is the cause of that.

“And then my brothers and sisters found the city and they killed so many people, and I-“

Dean pulls away from Cas’ hold, pressing a hand on his mouth to shut him up. Cas’ eyes widen in surprise but at least he doesn’t step back. He remains where he is.

“I need you to get something into your head, okay?” Dean asks in a low voice. Cas, though with tears in his eyes, nods. He’s listening. “You’re not Cassia. You’re Cas. Castiel Novak. You are kind of a nerd, you have a twin brother who loves you so much he’s willing to travel around the world to find out what you’re involved with.”

Cas simply blinks. And as Dean removes his hand to grab his head instead, Cas doesn’t speak.

“You’re that goofy guy who put me on my place when I was being a jerk about your religion. You’re the one I fell in love with, not because I _had_ to, but because I wanted to. You got me?”

Cas blinks. Then he manages a teary smile, leaning into Dean’s touch. His own hand comes to rest upon Dean’s, holding on to him like it’s the only thing he wants to do.

“I-“ he starts, but he stops to catch his breath. “The memories they- they just hurt so much… I don’t want to feel like this anymore, Dean.”

Dean sighs sadly, pulling Cas closer to him and pressing their lips together again. A soft kiss, though with the touch Dean can almost feel Cas’ power radiating through his skin. It’s warm, familiar. A part of Dean likes it, but another part wishes it wasn’t there. Not if it brings Cas this much pain.

They pull away from each other, their eyes never letting go of each other. Dean smiles gently, passing a hand over Cas’ cheek.

“We’ll deal with it, okay?” Dean tries. “Together. I’ll take care of you. Just like you took care of me.” Dean gently kisses his forehead.

There’s footsteps approaching. “Hey guys?”

Dean startles, turning around to look at his brother. Sam’s nearing them with Jimmy right behind them. Cas’ twin brother is holding Jack in his arms, though it’s clear that the baby has had enough of them and wants to return. Dean holds out his hands and takes Jack back from him, the baby making a pleasing noise after that.

“I mean, I know things are all kinds of messed up, but there’s this massive storm coming up and we’re still no closer of getting out of here,” Sam admits. Jimmy nods in agreement.

“That isn’t just a storm,” Cas returns. “It’s my brothers and sisters. They’re angry.”

Nobody says anything. What can they do about it? They know close to nothing about Angels, and the only one probably capable of standing up to them is currently not in the greatest mindset.

The stronger the storm gets, the more Dean can swear he hears the palace suffer. There’s a constant noise, creaking.

“The palace’s not going to hold for long.” It’s obvious. The Angels can’t get in, so they’re just going to destroy the place to get them out. And they’re using nature to do their dirty job.

There’s some flapping of wings behind him, and Dean turns around in surprise, finding Athan and Sophie inside as well. They frown as they look around before holding up their hands.

“Wait, how did you two get in? Isn’t this place warded against you guys?” Dean asks in confusion. The siblings close their hands, Athan shaking his head.

“We’re Nephilim. We are not like Angels.” Then the two mumble something together in Enochian. Cas walks up to them, taking their hands and getting their attention.

“It’s no use,” he tells them calmly. The two look at him in confusion and shock. Cas then turns around, addressing the entire group they have here. “We cannot stay here for you will all be killed.”

“What do you suggest?” John asks with his arms crossed. Cas thinks for a short moment. When he speaks up, his eyes are looking right at Dean.

“I’ll fly you all out of here. It’s me they want, not you.”

“Cas, no…” Dean says it before he can think better of it. Holding on to Jack, he takes a step forward before stopping once he sees Cas’ stare. He knows already that Cas has made up his mind, but Dean can’t just stand by as he decides to do this. Decides to do something stupid.

“You realize that they’ll probably kill you?” Sam reminds him.

“No! No way!”

It’s Jimmy who makes the outburst. He looks pissed off, his hands balled into fists as he approaches his brother. Then he grabs his shoulders and starts shaking him around.

“I already lost you once today. You are not leaving me again.”

“Jimmy-“

“No, Cassie! You are being an idiot and I’m not allowing it.”

Cas gives him a sad look, walking up to him and putting a hand behind his head. Then he presses their foreheads together, never taking his eyes off his brother.

He speaks in a low voice to the other, but Dean can’t hear it. He wouldn’t want to listen to it, anyway. It’s between the two brothers. Dean simply keeps his distance, joining his father and brother where they stand. John looks like he just wants to go home, and Sam’s pretty much the same. In fact, they all do. And Dean can’t even imagine what it would be like for the other three that were in the forcefield with them. All the people that were alive for them only days ago are since long dead. Dean’s sure they’re all in some way related, but in the end that doesn’t make a family.

Dean swallows past a painful lump in his throat when he sees Jimmy and Cas pull apart, both of them with red eyes. Jimmy looks like he’s having the worst day of his life, and Dean can pretty much agree with that sentiment.

Dean takes that as his cue to return to Cas. Passing Jimmy, he hands him Jack. Then he faces Cas, keeping his hands to himself as he addresses him.

“So, you’ve made up your mind?” he says.

“Yes.”

Cas looks like he’s glowing. Not literally, but there’s just something about him. Like his power is radiating off him. He looks invincible, despite the sorrowful look in his eyes. Looks like he’s got infinite knowledge, but carries along the burden of it as well.

“I’m not leaving here without you.”

Dean doesn’t realize he said it. That doesn’t mean he’s lying about it.

“Yes you are, Dean. This isn’t your fight.”

Dean grits his teeth together. “Like hell it isn’t!” His hands ball into fists, but he keeps them next to his body. He hates this, hates that it already feels like it’s out of his control. He knows Cas has made up his mind. He knows that there’s no way to convince him otherwise.

He knows that he’s going to lose him. Again.

“Dean. Once, I made a choice and a lot of people died because of it. I’m just trying to make amends here.”

Dean shakes his head again, refusing to look at Cas. He keeps his eyes lowered. Until Cas’ hand lifts his chin up.

“Don’t be sad, beloved,” the Angel says with a sad smile. “You know I would want nothing more than to be with you until the end. But it’s not just us.”

Cas then nods towards Sam and Jimmy.

“You have your brother. And I know that, no matter how much we mean to each other, it will never surpass what your brother is to you.” Cas’ hand moves from Dean’s chin to his hand. He holds it until Dean lets go of his fist, allowing Cas to squeeze his fingers. “There’s a reason there’s always a ‘Sam’ in your life. You cannot live without the other.”

“But I’m just supposed to live without you?” Dean asks, not too surprised that his voice is shaking. He sniffs his nose, willing the tears away. “I know we can figure this shit out, Cas. I know we can-“

“What if we can’t?”

Dean takes a shivering breath. Cas squeezes his fingers once more.

“What if in the end we waste too much time searching for another solution? I won’t risk everybody’s life here. Not if I know I’m the one they want. Not you. Not anyone else.”

Cas then looks over Dean’s shoulder, towards Jimmy. Or, rather, little Jack in Jimmy’s arms. The baby is staring right at them with large eyes, as if he can see them from where he’s being held. With a normal baby, Dean would figure it’s impossible.

“Take Jack. Take Sophie and take Athan. Get them away from here. Save our family. Do what I failed to do.” Cas takes a step forward, keeping his face close to Dean’s. “Live on. It’s the only thing I wish for you to do.”

Dean sighs sadly, leaning against Cas. His free hand goes up to Cas’ chest, his throat, until it’s at the back of his head. Passing his fingers through Cas’ hair, Dean holds on to him for dear life.

Then, with a whisper, lips close together but barely touching, he speaks up.

“Olani Hoath Ol.”

His eyes are closed, but he feels Cas shiver next to him. He doesn’t think further, just claims another kiss. The last one, he figures. One that he has to make count. He pulls Cas closer by the hips, feeling the other put his arms over his shoulders. As they touch, fire builds on the inside. But it’s not a hot fire. It’s smooth, kind. Passionate, but not in a needy way. It’s a promise to care for each other as long as possible.

Dean doesn’t know how much time has passed. It doesn’t feel like enough, but he knows they can’t linger for much longer. So Dean pulls apart, pressing their foreheads together again, both with tears in their eyes.

“I hate this,” Dean whispers. Cas chuckles sadly.

“Me, too,” he responds. After another short kiss they finally separate. Dean returns towards Jimmy to take Jack back over from him. Meanwhile, Sam walks up to take Dean’s place. The younger Winchester doesn’t speak, but simply pulls Cas into a strong hug. Dean can see that his little brother is crying as well.

If they do say something to each other, Dean can’t hear it at all. Instead he brings Jack to Cas to let the man hold him one final time. Cas sobs quietly before kissing the baby’s head. Jack puts his tiny hand on Cas’ cheek to comfort him, but it’s not enough. It’ll never be enough. Especially when Athan and Sophie join them, each taking Cas’ hand but not saying a thing. Cas gives them a sad smile before leaning forward and kissing their foreheads as well. He’s got Cassia’s memories after all. The way he remembers them now is as his kids.

“Alright, we should go.” His voice cracks as he speaks. He’s trying to sound strong, but it’s not working. It appears that even Angels can get emotional. It’s something Dean wishes he never would have found out.

Dean startles when he feels a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he finds John giving him a sad look. Dean nods towards him, appreciating the sympathy. Sam holds on to Dean’s other shoulder. Jimmy takes Cas by the hand. The Fawcetts touch Jimmy’s arm.

The only one hesitating is Kelley.

“C’mon, man, there isn’t much time,” Dean warns him. But Kelley shakes his head.

“I’m not coming with you,” he says. He takes a step back to put distance between him and them.

“Dude, why not?”

Though Dean knows why not. Because this is a man out of time. He has absolutely nobody here. No family, no friends. He’s not used to this world, and it’ll be too much of a change for him.

“I wish to see the Angels,” Kelley says. “I’ve studied them my entire life. It would be fitting for it to end with them.”

There’s a short moment of silence before everybody nods. It makes sense, and they’re not going to force him into coming along.

Before Cas can say anything else, a loud noise comes from the outside. Like some sort of explosion or something. Probably the thunder hitting some part of the Palace. It’s going to be crumbling down around them any moment now.

Dean closes his eyes. It’s probably for the better if he doesn’t look. Doesn’t watch how Cas flies them out of here and then leaves them.

One moment, he feels cold. Like a strong wind has hit him. He figures they’re already outside, and that maybe the storm is also strong in Tristan. But right when he’s about to open his eyes he finds himself flung forward, dropping onto the ground while holding Jack close to his chest. A grunt of pain escapes his mouth. Something sharp is poking him in the side. And in the neck.

Opening his eyes he sees that they’re in the middle of the storm. Debris is flying everywhere, leaves, branches. Trees have been destroyed. The palace lies in ruins around them. Every bit of warding keeping them safe now gone.

Shit, they wasted too much time.

Dean wants to call out for Sam. For Cas. For his Dad. But before he can even open his mouth somebody grabs him by the hair and puts something sharp against his throat.

“I got one,” he hears behind him. When he dares to cast his eyes to the side he finds his brother being hauled up as well. There’s a man behind him, pressing what seems like an Angel blade against his neck as well.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit…

The storm starts dying down around them. Less rain is hitting his face, and the thunder becomes less and less loud. In just a matter of seconds, perhaps, the air starts clearing again. Dean can see around him, finding that everybody of their little team is held by a person in a dark suit, a blade obviously pointed at their throat. In the middle of their sort-of circle stand Cas, Athan and Sophie, all three of them with their own blades at the ready. Though Cas’ looks different from the siblings’, being gold and twirling rather than silver and straight. Despite that, they all look equally sharp.

“Cassiel!”

The voice comes from somewhere behind Dean. He hears footsteps coming closer. With a grunt, Dean tries to get a better look but the grip on his hair is too strong. He would have freed himself with the blade, but holding Jack still in his arms makes him second-guess that action. He can’t do anything rash here.

“Hello, Zachariah,” Castiel returns with a low, steady voice. He sounds deadly, obviously pissed off as hell, too.

“I would say it’s nice to see you again, but we both know that ship has sailed by now, right?”

Another figure in a suit passes him by. Dean sees a balding man approaching Cas, without weapons. He holds his hands up, but not in defeat. More to make movements as he speaks. Dean can’t really see his face, but he already hates it. Cas’ hostile reaction towards him is enough to come to that conclusion.

“I know what you want,” Cas then says. “Let everybody go, and I will give it to you freely without a fight.”

Zachariah starts laughing, though the other angels don’t join in. If anything, the blade pokes even harder into Dean’s neck, and he’s pretty sure he’s already bleeding.

“’Let everybody go’, he says.” Zachariah turns towards another Angel while pointing towards Cas. “Did you hear that, brother? He wants us to let everybody go?”

The other Angel doesn’t respond. Zachariah’s laughing quickly turns into the opposite as he becomes serious again suddenly. He approaches Cas, but hesitates when he sees Sophie and Athan lifting up their blades with a deadly expression on their faces.

“We don’t want to hurt you,” Athan starts.

“Except we kind of do,” Sophie finishes with a sudden smirk.

 _That’s my girl,_ something in Dean’s mind says. When Dean chuckles he feels himself being shoved forward. Jack doesn’t like the sudden movement, suddenly fussing against his chest.

“You know, it was bad enough that you left us all for these hairless apes here. But the fact that you willingly bred these abominations makes every crime you made about a thousand times worse.” Zachariah spits out his words, sounding full of hate. “Now come with us so we can dispose of you.”

Then Zachariah turns towards Dean, eyeing the baby like it’s the most disgusting thing in the world.

“All of you.”

And that makes Dean snap. Keeping Jack in his left arm, Dean grabs for the blade he’s hidden in the inside of his jacket and he sinks it deep into the Angel’s head behind him. As the Angel screams and literally starts burning up on the inside, Jack begins to cry as well. He’s kicking his little feet and punching the air with his hands, making it difficult for Dean to hold him steady with just one arm.

But he holds the blade up anyway. Directing it to Zachariah, or any other Angel that dares to approach him.

“My, my, I’d forgotten you got yourself a feisty one of them,” the Angel mocks.

“If you touch one single hair on his body I swear to God that I’ll-“

“You’ll what? Kill me?” Zachariah puts his hands in his pockets and gives him a smug look. “Newsflash, human: God isn’t home right now. Nor has he been for the past thousand years or so. He kind of hates you all I think.”

“Fine, then I don’t swear to God.” Dean looks at Jack shortly before throwing his blade forward. It’s a testament to his skill that the weapon hits Zachariah right in the chest. The Angel starts glowing from the inside until there’s a bright light. When it dies down again, Zachariah lies on the ground with scorch marks of wings on the ground.

The Angels let out angry shouts, all heading in his direction. The few closest to Cas and the siblings all get stopped on their approach. He can hear the cling of metal against metal, and it doesn’t take too long for Dean to realize that he holds no weapon. He knows that he can’t hold off _Angels_ on his own; he needs something to defend himself with.

So he starts running, back in the direction of where Zachariah’s dead body is lying on the ground. He doesn’t remove his eyes from the blade still stuck in his chest, though it’s an effort not to look up to the burned remains of the wings on the ground.

Are they really that big? Are Cas’ as big as these? Why can’t they see them? Or is it something one can only see when in Heaven? Which is a place Dean will probably never get to given the fact that he just took down an Angel. Crap.

He gets tackled to the ground before he can reach the blade. Out of instinct, he holds Jack close to him, though he knows that’s not going to protect the kid. The Angel that is on him has blonde hair and an angry look on her face. She sits on top of him, undeterred by his pushing to get out from under her. As she raises her blade to strike down he sees a flash from behind her. Then suddenly her eyes start glowing and she drops down on the ground, a stabbing wound in her back from where it turns out Jimmy stuck her.

The younger Novak looks down at his hands in horror, his right one still holding the blade he must have gotten out of Zachariah’s chest. Dean tilts his head to the side, jumping up and giving the man a pat on the shoulder before grabbing the other blade.

“Thanks, Novak,” he says. Jimmy’s large blue eyes, completely identical to Cas’, look back up at him.

“You’re welcome,” he huffs out, still full of disbelief.

“C’mon, let’s not have them do all the work.” Dean nods towards Cas and the siblings, who seem to give it their all. He runs back into the battle, picking up Angel blades from the fallen ones and throwing it in the direction of the others.

Sam is already deep in it, his blade in hand and his hair wild. John, too, looks almost like a wild beast. Somewhere along the way he acquired a blade of his own.

It’s kind of horrible, really. The Angels are just doing what they think is right, even though it’s completely wrong. They’re probably just following orders.

But their orders are wrong. And Dean desperately wants to keep what he cares about alive.

He’s not too sure how long it takes. Probably way too long. It looks like their anger has made the Angels react a bit wildly to them, because Dean would have figured them to be a bit better at fighting. They’re not exactly organized. Not at all.

“ENOUGH!”

After that, the ground starts trembling.          

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:   
> \- Friggin' Angels


	24. Sunken Grace

The ground shakes and Dean falls down on his knees, leaning over Jack automatically to protect him. He tries to look around and see who spoke. After a quick look around he finds that the angels are all looking up. Dean figures he’ll do the same. There he finds another one of them, hovering in the air. He wears some sort of toga and sandals, his large white wings so majestic and bright it nearly burns Dean’s eyes.

Oh, so that’s why humans shouldn’t see their wings. Imagine having a whole room full of these? One would burn their eyes out.

“It is enough!” the other Angel repeats. Slowly he lowers himself to the ground, his feet touching the floor with so much grace Dean would figure he’s a ballet dancer or something.

All the Angels stop mid-attack. They all eye the newcomer with nothing but respect but also fear.

“It is time now, Cassiel. You’ve wasted enough of our siblings. What you should do is come along with us and accept your fate.”

That Angel has such a soothing voice, Dean kind of hates it. He nearly looks perfect, with dark hair and eyes, his skin brown and… shit it actually looks soft. Does the guy use a shit-ton of products or something?

“Michael,” Cas greets the other one. Ah, so this is the other Archangel. Immediately after, another angel joins her brother. They don’t look at all related, and this one has a less sympathetic expression on her face. She rather looks… bored. Cas, though, greets her anyway. “Raphael.”

He then waits, looking at a spot next to the woman who apparently is Raphael. Shit, so how exactly does this work with them? Do Angels even have genders?

“Should we still wait for Gabriel?”

Shit, these are the Archangels, aren’t they? Like… only a few of them are in existence. They were once probably even closer to each other than anybody else? It’s just them three and Gabriel now, with Lucifer put away where-ever he is now.

Raphael puts up a disgusted face upon the mention of their brother. Cas already did figure that Gabriel might have left heaven of his own choice, but Dean always thought those were just stories.

“Do not speak of that traitor,” Raphael hisses towards him, though Michael’s expression remains unchanged. “Now, let’s stop this madness. Enough of our siblings have perished today.”

“Sure, let’s work something out,” Cas returns. He sounds playful, but his face doesn’t show that. Dean hears Sam hiss his name next to him. When he looks to his left, he finds his brother gesturing to get out of the danger zone. Dean nods, slowly moving towards Sam with Jimmy right behind him.

“We grow tired of this, Cassiel. Come with us and face your sentence.”

“Which is?”

“You know what that is.”

Cas nods, not at all looking interested about it. He starts looking around, instead, looking like he’s on the verge of whistling out of boredom.

“The same goes for those abominations there.” Raphael nods towards Athan and Sophie next to Cas. They give her an angry glare, but before Dean really knows it he already storms Raphael’s way to push her forward. He doesn’t know where it came from, it just suddenly happened. Though some part of him dislikes the fact that he just shoved a woman, the rational part of his brain is there to remind him that this is in fact a genderless celestial being that probably feels above having a pronoun.

Obviously, Raphael doesn’t move. She just turns around, not seeming impressed at all. That doesn’t deter Dean at all.

“Don’t you fucking call them that,” Dean warns the archangel. Raphael raises an eyebrow before moving to slap Dean in the face. Before her hand can hit him, Jack starts crying in his arms, creating what must be some kind of forcefield or whatever. In any way, instead of getting to Dean, the force of Raphael’s hit comes back to her two times as strong. Raphael flies into the air, touching the ground further away with a loud grunt.

“You _vermin_! You dare lay a hand on an Archangel of the lord!” Raphael already starts getting up, storming back towards Dean. Michael stops her before she can get close.

“That’s enough, Raphael,” he warns her before turning back to Cas. “You know why we’re here. Come with us now, and your precious humans won’t be harmed.”

“How can I be sure of that?”

“If there’s something I do, it’s keeping my word.” Michael nods at him to assure him of what he says. Raphael simply scowls at her brother.

“You will get them all out of the city for me?” Cas continues. Michael nods again.

“I promise.”

Cas hesitates for a moment longer before he, too, nods in agreement. He reaches out his hand but before he can do that Dean’s already back on his feet. He storms to Cas, coming to stand between him and Michael to stop them from shaking their hands. Next to him are Sophie and Athan, both of them frowning at him.

“No,” he simply says.

“Dean, it’s alright.” Cas puts his hand on Dean’s shoulder and turns him around. With his eyes he searches Dean’s. There’s such honesty in them. Dean hates it. “I want this.”

“I said _no_!”

And here it goes, Dean is shouting at Cas. Jack starts fussing in his arms again, clearly unsettled by their fighting. Dean starts to rock him gently to get him quiet, though once he’s succeeded he turns to Michael with what he’s sure is murder in his eyes.

“You can’t take them from me,” he says. “Aren’t you supposed to be like the judge of the Angels? How is it then that you’re so shit at it?”

“Excuse me?” Michael finally frowns, showing some kind of emotion at last.

“An Angel killing an Angel for no fucking reason, I would classify that as a crime. An Angel leaving home because they fell in love? How’s that meant to be forbidden?”

“No Angel betrays the host of Heaven like-“

“Betray, my ass, dude.” Dean can feel Cas nervousness behind him. “Cas only did what none of you were brave enough to do; he loved human kind more than God himself. Isn’t that what your old man wanted, after all?”

Yeah, Cas talked about Angels during the boat ride to Tristan. Dean remembers some of it, much to his luck. Or so he hopes. It might as well mean that these words could be his death.

But Michael seems to be taken aback. Raphael, too, keeps her mouth shut.

“If we’re being honest here, the only true crime committed here is yours; y’all didn’t follow daddy’s words, didn’t ya?”

“You know not of what you speak!” Raphael barks.

“Maybe I don’t,” Dean returns. “But you’re not taking my family away from me because of that. Cas hasn’t been an Angel for a long time. If he could choose, he would rather be a human again.”

He then finally turns to Cas, giving him a soft smile and handing him Jack at last. Now with his arms free, Dean crosses his arms over his chest. He says nothing of how Cas holds Jack close to him like he’s the most precious thing in the world. Which he kind of is, really.

“I’ve got enough of this. Come with us now and stop wasting our time.” Raphael’s voice is low and dangerous, her entire posture threatening.

Dean yanks his arm back, taking the golden blade out from Cas’ hand much to the guy’s surprise. Then Dean holds it up towards the Archangel that’s been annoying him for the past half hour or so.

“I’d like to see you try and take ‘em,” Dean warns him. Raphael starts laughing.

“You still don’t get it? You’re insignificant and so is that blade in _your_ hands. An ant about to be crushed by my foot.” Raphael takes a step forward until she’s only centimeters removed from Dean’s face. The smirk on her face is a smug one. “Are you really willing to get to that point?”

“You can’t,” Dean answers dryly before turning his gaze to Michael. “You know he can’t. Because you are meant to protect humanity. And you can’t take them without endangering me.”

Michael says nothing, but Dean didn’t expect him to, anyway. Cas is shuffling nervously on his feet, holding Jack close to his chest with Sophie and Athan standing next to him.

“Alright, I’m done,” Raphael finally says, raising her hand before swinging it Dean’s way. Dean closes his eyes, expecting the punch. It never comes.

“STOP!” Michael shouts. Raphael freezes on the spot, staring at her brother with obvious betrayal in his eyes.

“Brother?”

“The human is right,” he says. “Have we really fallen so low that we would ignore our fathers’ wishes just for tying up loose ends?”

Raphael shakes his head. “Have you forgotten how long we’ve been on this?! How Cassiel's departure affected you?!”

“No.” Michael crosses his arms, raising his head with his lips pressed into a thin line as he thinks. “I remember. And I also remember the anguish our father felt after we erupted that volcano. And again after the city in the jungle was destroyed. He wasn’t sad because Cassiel left. He was sad because we continuously failed to do what he asked us to do.”

Raphael now finally has lowered her hand, though she still looks on edge. Ready to strike if Dean gives her a reason to.

“It’s time we do as we’re told.” Michael sounds determined with this new path he’s following, though Raphael seems less sure. “And as the judge of the Angels, it is my duty to judge the crimes committed by the Host of Heaven. Including my own.”

Michael then turns towards Cas.

“Cassiel has done nothing wrong. It is us. It’s always been us.”

For a moment, a very short moment, it’s over. They’ve got Michael on their side, and surely the guy’s enough of a leader to stop the rest of Heaven from attacking them further. He’ll be able to pull Raphael back, to just get everybody back to Heaven and leave them in peace.

Dean hopes it, but at the same time berates himself for doing so. Hoping only leads to disappointment, after all. It’s one of the best things about being a pessimist; you’re either right or you end up pleasantly surprised.

Barely even aware of anything happening around him, Dean’s surprised when suddenly there’s a presence next to him. Tilting his head to the side, he finds Sam smiling at him in assurance before squeezing his shoulder. Then, from his other side, John seems to join in. His hold on Dean’s shoulder is stronger and lingers longer.

Behind him, he can catch Jimmy standing next to his brother. He takes Cas’ hand into his own and Cas smiles at his sibling. The Fawcetts join in in silence. Dean feels sorry for them; they’re being dragged into a matter of Heaven and they didn’t even ask for this.

Granted, none of them asked for this, but Dean feels especially compassionate for their time-traveling friends. The ones who now will probably end up in a world where all the people they knew have died or are close to dying.

Before Dean can look back ahead of him he’s pushed aside. So are Sam and John, who end up on the gound and are pulling Dean along with them. Raphael storms past them, approaching Cas without any regards to the people she hurts along the way.

But as she nears Cas, Jack starts wailing again. The closer she gets, the louder he becomes. Dean notices Cas taking a few steps backwards to put some distance between them. But it doesn’t help. Raphael is still nearing him, and Jack isn’t calming down in any way.

“Raphael! Stop it immediately!” Michael orders, but Raphael seems to have given up on listening to her brother.

Dean scrambles back on his feet, lifting up the hand that was holding the blade, only to realize it’s no longer between his fingers. He looks down in horror, trying to find something gold but unable to locate it again.

Shit, he’s once again weaponless.

“Raphael, I order you to stand your ground!”

Still no reaction from her. She’s still getting closer to Cas. Jack starts screaming now. It’s a sound Dean never wants to hear again in his life, getting to him right in his heart.

Raphael is getting closer and closer. Dean’s not sure if Jack is going to defend himself again, or if Raphael will be prepared for him this time. Cas ends up with his back against the broken wall of the palace.

“Raphael, please,” Dean hears him beg. He’s being ignored. When Raphael lowers her arm, the same golden blade Dean had just held is in her hand. The one Dean took from Cas, leaving him without a weapon to protect himself.

Fucking shit!

“Raphael this is your last warning,” Michael calls out one final time. But Raphael raises her arm, lifting the blade and readying herself to stab.

It’s unclear if she would have been able to hit Cas, given the fact that he still has Jack in his arms. It never gets to that point. Raphael stills, the weapon falling out of her hand as light seems to erupt from her. Dean knows better now. He closes his eyes, motioning for the others to do the same.

A loud howl of pain and betrayal fills their ears as Raphael’s Grace seems to be burning out from inside. When it dies out and the vessel she was possessing drops down on the ground, Dean deems it safe again to open his eyes. Carefully, he looks around.

Cas is still where he stood, trying to calm Jack down who is fussing so hard he nearly rolls out of the Angel’s arms. They both look unharmed. A quick glance back indicates that Michael must have thrown the blade, the same way Dean did with Zachariah. His mouth falls open and he wants to ask why he did that. But no words come out. The shock is too big.

“Holy shit what the hell just happened?” he hears John asking, his dad being the first one to break the silence as he gets back on his feet. He walks towards the body of Raphael, looking down at the scorched wings on the ground and the golden blade stuck in her chest. Dean watches him taking the weapon out and giving it a good look.

“Why did you do that?” Sam asks the question that must be burning in everybody’s mind. Michael regains his posture, passing his hand over the white toga before raising his head.

“As the judge of the Angels, I must see the whole picture. At least if I wish to do the job our father told me to do.” Michael walks forward, holding out his hand towards John to get his blade back. John hesitates for a moment before handing it over anyway. “The matter is, Cassiel’s crimes are only few. It is true that he left Heaven, but in doing so he didn’t harm any Angel or human. The only one who did that was us.”

He’s damn right. Despite the sudden change of heart, Dean doesn’t particularly feel inclined to trust the guy immediately.

“It was easy to forget about our past crimes against humanity for the sake of searching for Cassiel. But the fact remains that they were crimes. And Raphael, in particular, had the more extreme methods of tracking our brother down.”

“The whole business with Gadreel, right?” Sam asks. “He said that the Angels spoke to him about a traitor of Heaven.”

Michael nods. “Raphael didn’t care about the humans that died along the way, as long as we got what we were looking for. Because of the lack of results, I allowed it. Which makes me equally guilty.”

“Then why don’t you stab your guts out here as well?” Dean asks bitterly. Michael smirks at him before shaking his head.

“Raphael was intending to kill another Angel that was unable to defend himself,” he says. Dean rolls his eyes.

“Whatever, I don’t really care anyway.” He lets Michael stand where he is, instead going towards Cas and Jack. He carefully walks over Raphael’s body before reaching out for the baby that has already a hand out in his direction. Dean takes it between his fingers, feeling the strong grip on him immediately.

He can hear Sam ask Michael more questions, but all his focus is on the child in front of him. Jack smiles a toothless gin, blue eyes meeting Dean’s, though Dean knows enough about babies to know that he shouldn’t be able to see anything yet, let alone smile.

“You guys okay?” he asks. Cas smiles and nods.

“We are fine, thank you,” he says. Carefully he hands Jack back to Dean, who takes him without hesitation. “I’m going to do the right thing now.”

Dean doesn’t know what to say. Doesn’t even know what to expect, either. He just decides to watch and see what will come. If Cas still has this death wish, Dean’s sure he can give talking him out of it another try.

“Michael,” Cas starts, and the archangel directs his attention to him.

“Yes, Cassiel?”

Cas then drops down on his knees, keeping his chin up as if he’s bearing his neck for the Archangel.

“I know I have no right for asking this, but I must do it anyway,” he starts. Handing Michael his own golden blade – where did he even find it?! – he looks serious. Dean’s about to step in and stop him, but this time Jimmy’s ahead of him.

“Cassie, what are you doing?” he asks in panic. He drops down on the ground next to his brother. Cas merely smiles at him.

“What must be done,” he gets as a respond. Then Cas turns back to Michael. “I ask you to remove my Grace from this vessel without destroying it. I ask you to keep it safe, to make sure that no human being nor demon can get their hands on it. And I ask you to allow me to live a human life with these people here that I call family.”

Michael looks a bit stunned at the request. He takes Cas’ blade from him, giving it a quick look before pointing it towards Cas’ shoulder. The one with the brand on it.

“We all had our symbols,” Michael mutters out pensively. “Yours was always the prettiest one.”

Michael chuckles before shaking his head. Then he reaches out his free hand and puts it on Cas’ cheek, gently stroking his skin.

“I was angry when you left, more than the others. Not because you ‘betrayed’ us, but I felt like you betrayed _me_.” Michael then looks back up towards Dean. “I didn’t know what love was. I thought it was just a mission. A securing of a good bloodline. But it’s more than that, isn’t it?”

Cas gives him a soft, sad smile.

“You love him. And not because he’s supposed to be _my_ vessel, but because he’s him.”

Cas nods again. Dean simply frowns.

“Now hold up just a second, what-?” he starts, but Sam pokes him in the side to shut him up.

“I’m sure Cas’ll explain it all to you later,” he whispers towards him. Dean grumbles something to himself, waiting for Michael to finally do his shit and get them all out of here.

“I will grant you your request,” Michael reveals at last, letting go of Cas’ cheek and looking at the blade. “But I have conditions.”

Cas nods, eager to comply with any additions he might have to it. Dean can only look, as can the others, too.

“Your children,” Michael starts, but he can’t finish before Dean storms in again.

“You don’t freaking touch them!” he warns him. Michael only looks back up to him with a humorous look in his eyes. He’s actually laughing? What the hell is happening?

“Your offspring will be allowed to live. But as humans only. Does this sound fair to you?” Michael continues as if Dean never interrupted him. Cas hesitates, obviously not feeling like he’s supposed to make these choices for Athan and Sophie. They’re both old enough to make choices of their own. Jack is too young to know, but the other two…

“I accept,” both siblings say simultaneously without even needing a moment to think about it. They, too, kneel down and bare their necks, awaiting for it to happen.

“Very well.” Michael looks pleased. He moves towards Jack, first, still holding the golden blade. “This will be unpleasant for him for a short moment. I must urge you to hold him still.”

Dean huffs out a breath, feeling Jack’s warmth between his arms. He doesn’t know if he can do this, if he can watch the kid in pain like that, even if it’s just for a short moment. He’s about to say so when Sam puts a hand on his shoulder.

“He can do it,” Sam assures Michael, and indirectly Dean as well. Dean then nods, holding Jack forward for a bit. The baby’s large eyes stick to the Archangel in front of him. But before he pulls out the blade, Dean puts his hand on his eyes. Jack then starts giggling, as if they’re playing a game.

It’s a short thing, and doesn’t last more than ten seconds tops, but it tugs at everything inside of Dean to watch the kid squirm like that. Once the Grace is removed, it being a shining white sort of smoke that enters into some sort of vial Michael must have been carrying around, Jack starts crying again. Dean holds him close to his chest, nodding towards Cas to indicate that they’re alright.

They shouldn’t waste much more time.

He’s got his back turned to the others when Michael moves to take the siblings’ Grace. He’s too busy calming down Jack, and by the time he’s paying attention again, Sophie and Athan are hunched forward, their hands pressed against their necks as they breathe in the air around them.

“Are you ready now, Cassiel?”

Cas nods. But before Michael can do his thing, Cas pulls back.

“I have one final request,” he says. Michael, now obviously starting to lose his patience, crosses his arms.

“You can’t be-“

“The Lafittes. They’re a family on Tristan. They wish for nothing but a child, but they can’t have any due to infertility. I want you to make sure that they can have one anyway, please.”

Dean’s heart warms, the corners of his lips going up into a smile. Next to him, Sam grins as well. They all noticed some unspoken pain of the inability to have children. The pair never spoke about it in detail, but it was obvious enough in their way of speaking. How they bought a large house to have them, how they eventually had to refurnish the nursery when it was obvious it wasn’t going to happen.

Yeah, Dean can get the request. It’s a true selfless thing to do.

“Fine,” Michael grits out. “Now can we get on with this?”

Cas nods. “Will I remember everything?” he asks. Michael looks down on him with his blade pointed towards Cas’ throat.

“There’s a probability that you won’t,” Michael admits. But that looks like the exact thing Cas wants to hear. He nods and holds up his hands. An indication that he’s ready, and that he won’t fight back.

And then the blade hits Cas’ skin.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't hate Michael. The right universe Michael, that is. I think he just wanted to do what he thought was right. I don't see him as the big villain. Unlike the current Michael, who is kind of an amazing anagonist I guess, though I've yet to see the past 3 episodes!


	25. Come sail away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short ending!

It all happens in just a flash of a second. One moment they’re all still in the City of Enochia, and the next they’re at the beach, the Angels and the forest around them disappeared.

Dean can figure that the city is gone. If it needed Cassia to thrive and already suffered when she cut out her Grace, Dean can imagine the damage done to it once it’s completely disappeared. There’s a vague sense of regret going through him, but not for long. The kingdom was never his home after all. Maybe his predecessor but not his.

He can hear the waves hitting on the shore. He can feel the wind on his face. He can smell the salt of the ocean around him. All it makes him do is smile and hold on to whatever he’s holding against his chest.

Wait, his chest? Dean looks down and finds Jack there. He’s asleep, though shivering – which is something he hadn’t done before. He’s cold, Dean figures. It’s possible, since he never really must have felt those things when he was still half Angel. Dean takes off the improvised carrier and wraps the remnants of his jacket around the child. Jack fusses a bit, but sleeps on soundly. He must be exhausted.

After making sure that Jack is alright, Dean checks on the others. He finds Jimmy and John sitting on the ground further away, obviously trying to recover from the weird way of transportation they’ve just been put through. After that, there’s the Fawcetts. Both father and son look towards the ocean, as if they’re expecting it to look different. There’s obvious sorrow in their gaze, which Dean can understand. They’ve lost everything, after all.

Sam is next to Dean, rubbing his forehead with an annoyed grunt.

“Traveling by Angel isn’t fun at all,” Sam mutters as he presses against his eyes. Dean chuckles, holding out a hand to help him up. Sam stumbles a bit on his feet, but once he’s back up he puts his hands on his hips and looks to the sea as well. “Feels like an eternity since we’ve been here.”

“Who knows, maybe it is…” Dean has no idea how much time they’ve wasted in the timeless bubble Jack created. A few years could have passed for all they know. Bobby might already think they’re dead. Jessica’s probably awake and already moved on.

Shit, Dean really has no clue.

The last people he looks over are Cas, Sophie and Athan. The three are huddled together. Sophie and Athan look… pale. A bit worn down, but not unhappy. They help Cas up, who trembles on his legs a bit when he tries to stand.

“I’ve been a human for the past two-thousand years, one would think I’ve already got the hang of it,” he jokes. Athan and Sophie chuckle as well as they keep him stable. Before Dean can approach him, another figure passes him by. It’s Jimmy, who holds out a hand as well.

“You okay, bro?” he asks. Cas smiles gratefully at his twin before nodding. Despite that, Dean can still see the sadness. That must mean that he still remembers some things. Dean really wished he would have forgotten it all.

“Kelley’s missing,” Sam points out. And it’s true. Dean hadn’t even realized they were missing a man, mostly due to the fact that the guy’s been extremely quiet the entire time they’ve spent with him.

But remembering Kelley’s last words, Dean can already figure where he is.

“He spoke to Michael. I saw him before I lost consciousness,” Cas admits. He leans against his brother while freeing his other arm from the siblings’ hold to rub it on his forehead. “Asked Michael to take him along. There’s nothing left for him here, after all.”

Dean isn’t going to mourn. He didn’t know the guy at all, and most importantly it was his own wish to go. None of the others seem sad about it, either. It feels almost rude not to feel anything about it, but let’s face it, they didn’t know the guy. And if he’s somewhere he wants to be, who are they to complain about it?

Still leaning against his brother, Cas joins Sam and Dean at the edge of the shore. The former Angel looks down at Jack, holding out a hand and allowing Jack’s tiny fingers to curl around one of Cas’ larger ones. It’s mostly on instinct that the baby does that, since he’s still sleeping on.

“Looks like somebody’s exhausted,” Dean chuckles.

Nothing is said after that. They all just look at the shore, realizing all too soon that they’re still stuck here. After the storm, their boat got destroyed after all. And even if it hadn’t, they couldn’t carry all these people around.

They’ll just have to wait and hope that a week hasn’t gone by yet. That Benny might still be making his rounds of the island in search for them.

And as if his wish has been heard, Sam hears the sound of an engine in the background. He doesn’t say anything, simply points at the far image of a boat sailing around. The others see it as well. Dean simply grins.

Benny sends a few rescue boats their way. It’s difficult to get ashore, but they manage. Everybody splits up into the three boats, Dean, Sam and John sitting together with little Jack, while Cas, Jimmy and Sophie get in the other one. The Fawcetts and Athan go in the third, and simultaneously they are all brought to Benny’s familiar ship.

Dean gets a warm greeting from the Captain, who throws his arms around him in a hug before he moves on to Sam, Cas and even Jimmy and John. He introduces himself to the Sophie, Athan and the Fawcetts. Dean barely listens to it.

He knows people might wonder why they left with the three of them and are suddenly returning with all the others _and_ a baby. And in any other circumstance Dean would have taken a moment to explain it. But not today. Today he just needs to sit down for a bit, put Jack in a little basket that the crew must have filled with blankets for him and let him sleep for a bit. Dean throws his head back, his eyes catching Benny giving the Fawcetts a tour of the boat. Jimmy is catching up with a few people he must have gotten to know when they brought him to Inaccessible a few weeks back. John and Sam catch up – since there’s a lot for the two of them to talk about. Dean doesn’t even feel like joining in on that conversation. He knows there’s a risk of arguing between the two of them, but he doesn’t care.

Because they’re all alive. And they’re heading home, where-ever that is. So Dean smiles and closes his eyes.

Until he feels something touching his hand. Looking up, he finds that Cas is now sitting next to him. He smiles as well, looking relieved, sad, tired… everything at once. Dean doesn’t hesitate for a bit. He raises his arm and throws it over Cas’ shoulder. The other man leans up against him, putting his hand on Dean’s thigh.

Nothing needs to be said. As they sit with the view on the island slowly disappearing from view, Athan and Sophie take place on the ground next to them, both of them resting their heads against their legs and falling asleep instantly.

Dean gives them a fond look before he turns his head and presses a kiss on Cas’ hair.

So yeah, this hunt didn’t at all end up the way he expected it to, but he doesn’t hate this turn of events.

He doesn’t hate it one bit.

In the silence, Dean hears Cas’ soft breathing next to him. An indication that he’s fallen asleep. Dean smiles again, finally feeling at peace.

And finally, for what feels like too damn long, Dean finally allows his eyes to close as well, letting sleep take him over.

There’s still a bit of a journey to go.

 

**_THE END_ **

 

**__ **


	26. Epilogue

_14 years later  
Santorini – Greece, Mort Pocalyps’ Mansion_

It’s a beautiful day out. At least, that’s what Dean thinks. He hasn’t even opened his eyes yet so he can’t really tell for sure.

But he thinks it’s going to be a beautiful day out.

It’s summer, which he can feel despite the lack of clothes or sheets covering him. They slept with the window open, only the sound of the sea filling their ears as they chased their dreams in unconsciousness. And Dean had such a nice one of them, too.

He doesn’t know why he’s awake. It could be the heat, could be the bird that whistles happily from outside, or it could be Cas who shifted next to him in his sleep.

Oh, no, it’s his phone. He can hear it making a low sound, indicating that he’s got a message. Rubbing his eyes, Dean reaches out for the device and opens it up, the light of the screen hurting his eyes when he unlocks the phone. Next to him, Cas grunts in annoyance but doesn’t move at all.

“A message from Sam,” Dean whispers to the other man. Cas simply lets out a loud breath.

“Tell him to send it later next time,” he mumbles against Dean’s shoulder. But finally he opens his eyes and looks up to Dean’s phone. There, they find a picture of Sam and Jess, somewhere in Indonesia. Jess is standing next to an elephant, wearing nothing but a white dress and sandals. The dress is loose, still hiding away the baby bump she’s having.

She and Sam waited a long while before starting with children. It was a conscious decision, they said. After finishing college, both of them decided to just drop everything and travel. They used the money Sam got from the discovery of Herculaneum and went somewhere far away. And after that, they went somewhere else. And then somewhere else again.

In the end, they’ve only really traveled around the world. They stay in a place for a few months, enough to earn their money there before they move on to the next place. It was a bit hard on Dean at first, but the pair still returns for the annual holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving, including the birthdays as well.

Yeah, so Sam’s not treasure hunting, but he found that traveling over the world is something he enjoys doing a lot, and Dean’s happy for him.

“Look at that,” Dean chuckles. “’Jess made a new friend.’ It’s a good picture.” He shakes his head before going back to his other messages, finding another update only this time from Sofia. In the past fourteen years, the girl has grown up a bit. Now having the biological body of a thirty-six year-old she looks a bit older than when they first met her.

It’s weird how there’s no age between them, but also so many years of difference. The girl is kind of their daughter – though she also isn’t. _She_ surely likes to pretend she is, which is alright by Dean, even though there’s technically only 4 years between them. Even with Athan it’s not that plausible. While he’s older than Sofia, the fact that he became human appearing younger than her makes him in fact four years younger than her. Everything is kind of messed up, but if anybody asks they just say that they’re cousins.

Not that anybody asks. Everybody that needs to know is aware of the actual situation between them, and the ones that don’t never really have come across the Enochia-siblings.

“Looks like your great-grandfather also sent you something,” Cas jokes, leaning up to press his nose into Dean’s neck. Dean simply snorts.

“Shut up,” he responds, though he opens up Jack Fawcett’s message anyway. It’s just a simple update on his life. The guy got married a few years back and they’re expecting their first child. At least the first child Jack will be aware of. And crap, that kid will be Dean’s dad’s aunt. Shit, that’s too complicated for his brain. It’s easier to just see the Fawcetts as friends of the family rather than actual blood relatives.

Yeah, it was quite the shock when they found out the Fawcett’s relation to them. With Jack Fawcett’s daughter from the tribe being John’s mother Millie Winchester (her real name was something Dean heard once and decided he was never going to be able to repeat again), who then ran off with Henri

Both Jack and Percy Fawcett moved back to England rather quickly. While Jack quickly took a post in the Royal Army, Percy spent most of it writing. The books about Enochia are out there, to be read by the public. But what they see as actual facts, the people simply see as fiction, and everybody’s okay with that.

Dean finally puts away his phone, enjoying the sounds of nature coming from outside. Cas is still clinging on too him. They’re both just lying there, too lazy to actually get up and start with their day. It’s only seven in the morning, not the time at all to get up already.

“What do you want to do today?” Cas eventually asks. Dean turns until he’s on his side, looking at Cas with a fond smile. He reaches out his hand, passing it over Cas’ right shoulder. Then he leans forward, pressing a kiss on the symbol drawn into his skin.

It’s not the same mark, not the one they’ve grown up with. It changed after a while, though when they don’t really know. One moment, Cas just noticed it as they lay in bed. This time it’s a complete circle. There’s no more wings on Cas’ side, and the three dots are now in the middle instead of underneath the wings. On Dean’s side there’s an extra little curve, indicating Sam since he’s kind of a part of that rebirth-circle. The three dots are obviously Athan, Sophie and Jack.

“If I could choose, I would just stay in bed all day,” Dean answers Cas’ question before kissing him gently on the lips. They’re both in a serious need of a shave, but neither really feel like it. Cas’ hair is getting longer and it seriously needs a haircut, but Dean doesn’t mind at all. He likes to hold on to it, and Cas seems to enjoy that, too.

“I’m down with that,” Cas returns with a smirk. Then he continues the kiss, putting his own hands on Dean’s cheeks to keep him close. No matter how old they get, neither really seems to get tired of this. Of each other.

And shit, he’s already forty now. It’s truly a horror to think about it. He feels so old, scared that he’s not going to be able to do anything in only a few years. Climbing stuff and finding shit is his _thing_! If he can no longer do that, what else can he possibly do?

“Stop brooding about your age,” Cas whispers against his mouth. He rolls them over until he’s lying on top of him, resting on his elbows while keeping his hands on Dean’s face.

“You remember the kid called me an ‘old man’ yesterday?” Dean points out. Cas rolls his eyes, dropping his head back between Dean’s neck and shoulder.

“You know he just did that to get information out of that girl. He’s taking this treasure hunting stuff serious, Dean,” Cas assures him. And it’s true, Jack really did apologize afterwards. But the words still came out, and they’re truly haunting Dean.

“Yeah so serious that he came up to me and asked me to have _the talk_. You know which talk I’m talking about here.” Dean shudders, trying to imagine giving the fourteen-year-old the speech every teen normally hates. Of course, Jack isn’t like any of the other ordinary teens, and that’s what makes him so special in their eyes. Jack is awkward but social, smart but also clueless. He’s everything at once. But what he isn’t is bad. He’s such a kind boy that he would literally never be able to kill a fly.

“You didn’t mention that?” Cas asks in surprise. He doesn’t sound upset, just shocked.

“Yeah, he thought the girl wanted to get it on,” Dean jokes. “Had to remind him that he’s _way_ too young to even think about that. I don’t want him doing that stuff until he’s eighteen. Or twenty. Or thirty.”

And now Dean shudders again, only now at the thought of the boy doing that sort of crap. It’s almost like it was only yesterday that Jack took his first steps and now he’s reached puberty, making their lives even more difficult.

“Be reasonable, Dean. How old were you, huh?” Cas smirks at him.

“Uh, fifteen?”

“Well, then, you’ll have to live with the fact that Jack is growing up, and-“

“Okay, that’s enough of that!” Dean grabs Cas by the shoulders and turns them around until Cas is lying underneath him. The other man laughs, throwing his arms around Dean. “How ‘bout you and I just stop talking about Jack and instead have a bit of fun, huh?”

Cas looks at him fondly, leaning forward to caress his lips over Dean’s before giving him a short kiss.

“I can get on board with that,” he whispers against his mouth. Another kiss. Then he rubs his cheek against Dean’s. Dean uses that opportunity to press his nose in Cas’ hair. It still smells of the shampoo they bought yesterday. It’s good, flowers and honey. Cas likes honey.

He’s so distracted by it that he nearly shouts it out when Cas pulls him off and gets on his feet. Cas swipes his pants off the ground and hurries to the door. Before Dean can really understand what’s happening he can hear him call out into the hallway.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Dean lies down on his back, pressing his hands against his eyes. Why is it so difficult to get laid once there’s a kid in your life? Holy crap, every time they’re about to get it on he’s always getting interrupted.

That’s not to say that he doesn’t love Jack. He loves the kid with everything he’s got, and he makes sure to let the boy know that, too.

“Claire and I were going to the beach to meet great-grandpa Mort?” he hears Jack try in the back, sounding a bit hesitant.

“Without telling us? I know you’re better than that, Jack.” Dean gets up as well, then. Instead of putting on his pants he just wraps the blanket around him. When he approaches the door he makes sure to put his arms around Cas’ middle and rest his head over his shoulder. There he can see Jack in his ‘climbing’-outfit.

“I left a note,” Jack complains. Claire is next to them, having her arms crossed as she leans against the wall. It’s her first holiday without her parents and her rebellious side seems to come out now that she doesn’t have their prying eyes on her. Mort’s large mansion all the way in Greece seems to be perfect for that.

Once they notice Dean standing there in his state of undress both teens groan, looking away from the adults. Dean smirks, enjoying making them uncomfortable. If they’re cockblocking him, that’s what they deserve.

“Can we just go, please? I promise we’ll be careful,” Jack insists. Dean hums as if he’s thinking, while Cas starts chuckling soundlessly.

“I don’t know, can you? I mean, it’s a scary world out there, isn’t it?” Dean jokes. Cas then pokes him in the side, getting an ‘oof’ out of Dean as he pulls back.

“Of course you can go. But be back for lunch, alright?” Jack and Claire smile. The girl disappears down the stairs while Jack runs up to Cas, throwing his arms around him.

“Thank you,” he says, kissing his cheek before doing the same with Dean. Then he follows his cousin down the stairs.

“Don’t forget your phone!” Dean shouts after him.

“Already got it!” they get in return. After that the door slams and the teenagers are out of the house. Dean rolls his eyes before pulling on Cas’ arm.

They’ve only been here for a few days. At first it was meant as a holiday but after a while, thanks to Mort, the boy stumbled upon some sort of small treasure hunt Dean’s pretty sure the guy made up himself. Jack, ever the over-achiever, intends on seeing this through without the help of his parents, and so now he’s dragging Claire along with it.

“Now,” Cas starts, pushing on Dean’s chest until he falls down on his bed. With a wide grin he leans over Dean again, pulling the sheet away from his body. “Where were we?”

Dean laughs as he puts his hands behind Cas’ neck and rolls them back around.

“I was going to show you just how much I love you,” Dean tells him. He then takes Cas’ left hand and kisses the golden wedding ring on his finger.

“I can’t wait,” Cas returns.

And he doesn’t have to. Not this time.

 

_Jessica Moore woke up three days after Sam’s return to Sioux Falls. After a long road of recovery, the two of them graduated from school and started traveling. They’ve made up a traveling blog which has over 2.8 million followers on Instagram. Their first daughter was born in February 2019_

_  
_ _John Winchester has given up on the treasure-hunting life, instead following in Bobby’s footsteps to stay off the alcohol and helping out in opening their new garage._

_  
_ _Jimmy Novak married his high school sweetheart Amelia after his return and steered off treasure hunting once his daughter Claire was born. Though he now lives the ‘apple pie life’, he often gets asked questions by the girl about his adventures._

_  
_ _Percy and Jack Fawcett took a while do re-discover the world, but eventually they managed to find a way to build up their life again. Percy Fawcett became a writer, while Jack Fawcett has found himself a family and a place in the British army._

_  
_ _Athan finally went to college and met a girl he later married and has two children with. He’s now an art curator and specializes in Greek art, specifically._

_  
_ _Sofia built up an organization to help the people in need in the poorer countries, offering them food and medicine due to large donations from all around the world._

_  
_ _Meg Masters recovered from her injuries and decided to continue with archaeology, though this time doing it the clean way. She and Castiel remain close friends._

_  
_ _Benny and Andrea announced two months after their return from Tristan that they were expecting their first child, whom they’ve called Cassia as gratitude for Castiel’s help._

_  
_ _Dean and Castiel raise Jack as their own son and settle down to live a normal life with Dean working at his Dad’s garage and Cas teaching at the local college. But the older Jack gets, the more adventure seems to call them back._

_  
_ _Mortimer Pocalyps keeps on pretending that he wants to be left alone, but he’s making it his special mission to keep the Winchester Treasure Hunting legacy strong in the youngest member of the family, even if the parents aren’t too aware of it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's over!  
> I want to thank everybody who re<3ad this. I'm not sure if this story is just crap on an island, but I do hope it was at least entertaining enough. I did kind of give it my all, and I really hope it's not too bad!  
> My biggest thanks goes to Caspinn, my sister (if not by blood, at least by heart), who helped me through the story. She's the biggest fan of this verse, and she's been kind enough to give up some of her time and create all the symbols that appear here. I am eternally grateful for that, and for everything else you've done. Girl, you're the best. <3
> 
> Of course, the story isn't completely over. A lot has been mentioned about their past, but never in too much detail. It had always been my intention of adding a short prequel to it which explains Cassia and Demetrius' life, and especially Michael's involvement with it. The story is already on the first chapter, but given the fact that Angels are all genderless and the first two chapters or so happen in Heaven, it's kind of confusing to write.


End file.
